Wish For Something
by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10
Summary: "I am a Shinigami, Ryo. I have the power, once every two-hundred and fifty years, to grant anyone I choose three wishes. I could grant one person three wishes at once or three people one wish each. There is only one condition." They must help each other in some way, however big or small. SasuHina
1. Chapter 1

**Wish For Something**

**Summary**: Hinata and Sasuke find each other by chance in the middle of a cryptic forest, in the wake of night. A Shinigami appears to them, and places a contract onto their hands: they must both help each other in some way, however big or small, and in exchange the Shinigami would grant them one wish each... what problems will just one wish bring them after this encounter, in the meantime?

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) and my OCs belong to me, but anything Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Don't plagiarise, it's not cool.

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_What is a wish, really?_

_The corrupt dream of having it all?_

_The tempting power to control them all?_

_The envied wisdom that succeeds pure?_

_Or a dream that the mind will forever abhor?_

_What is a wish, really?_

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**CHAPTER ONE**

**Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

* * *

Sasuke never thought he'd be returning to the Leaf village before he first accomplished his goal and killed Itachi. He no longer had business in the Leaf village and if he had been rightly informed, they'd stamped him off as a Missing ninja. He was nothing more than a sack of gold on legs, in their eyes.

It was solely Orochimaru's desire to return to the Leaf village, not Sasuke's. It was no doubt to do something sick and twisted. The Uchiha avenger hadn't even bothered to ask the ex-Sanin what exactly he intended to do there, but quite frankly, Sasuke didn't need to know and he didn't care what Orochimaru did.

He had been left to wander on his own, aimlessly through clusters of forest trees, through a dozen clearings, and now he was staring blandly at the occasional owls perched in trees. Sasuke hated this, the feeling of being controlled, and receiving the treatment of a child. If he only knew of any other way of gaining power than by staying by Orochimaru, he would gladly take it...

Sasuke stopped where he was walking. He had reached deep into the wet, stifling expanse of the forest. He couldn't place his finger on it, but the air of the forest now seemed to breathe differently... it was like the air tasted a part of him as it brushed against his skin, then moved on.

Maybe it was just him imagining that because he could now sense someone's distinctive chakra signature evident, and it was interfering with his senses—although Sasuke could see no reason why that should happen.

He drew out his katana and stared back, the way that he had come, through dense, nightly darkness. Teasing sparks of lightening ignited and hissed along the surface of his blade as he held it to his side.

Then there she was, stumbling into the clearing, clueless, looking like she'd walked into there by accident, and staring up at him wide-eyed and shocked.

Sasuke didn't do anything at first. He thought he recognised her for a moment, but dismissed the idea impassively. If he knew her, what did it matter, anyway?

"Sasuke?" She said in a precarious voice, her expression soft yet torn between confusion, fear, uncertainty and surprise. The Uchiha narrowed his eyes at her, and watched her face slowly fill with fear and regret, maybe for saying anything at all; it seemed that the reality that maybe he was going to kill her had sank in. Was she right to think that?

The moment obliterated when Sasuke remembered who she was, finally.

Long, wet, indigo hair. Wide, pearl-like eyes.

Hyuuga Hinata. The arrogant Hyuuga prodigy's weak cousin.

Sasuke shook his head, smirking. There didn't seem to be any point in ending her. At her rate, she was bound to die early. She didn't appear remotely like a threat, and if she was as weak as he last remembered her being, she was surely in trouble.

It was better her than Sakura, Sasuke finally thought, scornfully. If he was going to encounter anyone in the Leaf village while he was there waiting for Orochimaru to finish his business, he wanted it to be someone who wouldn't blab his existence to the whole world ... or to Naruto.

"Why are you here?" Sasuke asked with a purely scrutinising voice. It was the middle of the night and they were experiencing the warm up of an agitated storm about to kick off. If she had been training with her team here then they would have finished hours ago. Otherwise, she might have taken a walk, but one so deep into the forest?

Sasuke narrowed his eyes distrustfully.

"I was just training by the waterfall, b...but I then I thought that I'd heard something and..." She trailed off, shaking from the cold and consciously zipped up her lavender jacket as she stared at him.

"I... I thought that you had left the Leaf village?" Hinata finally asked, her face returning to a state of confusion and uncertainty.

Sasuke closed his eyes, his senses tuning in onto the raindrops that were falling around them, and sliding against his skin, hair and clothes.

"I have left the Leaf village... you're right. I'm only here because I can't leave Orochimaru's side." Sasuke said. He didn't know why he'd even bothered answering. He stared at her and waited for her reaction. He'd just relayed a valuable piece of information to her. What he expected was panic to fill those translucent eyes staring back at him, except they remained as they had been the whole time: confused, uncertain, overwhelmed and slightly terrified.

Had he missed something about her when he had lived in Konoha three years ago, other than being the timid, quiet Hyuuga heir who had been beaten by her cousin in the Chunin exams?

"Oh..." Hinata said finally. Her hand reached out for a tree trunk, and she leaned against it wearily. Her face seemed extremely exhausted and cautious. But otherwise, calm.

What Sasuke didn't know, was that on the inside, Hinata felt like her heart was going to burst into pieces from slamming against her ribcage at least five times a second.

Neither of them said or did anything in that instance; maybe it was because Sasuke knew that Hinata wouldn't be a threat to him, even if she tried, and there was no need to kill her anyway. Maybe he was just content with seeing a former comrade after being away from the Leaf village for at least three years, and finally being back with nothing more to do than wait for Orochimaru to return. And for some reason, Hinata seemed to trust him as she stood there idly and unsure, shaking from the cold and exhaustion of her training—and she hadn't even tried to run away or challenge him, yet.

The miserable, irate storm, launching itself at the forest and village over all, seemed to increase tenfold. Sasuke turned away, bowing his head to the downpour sweeping down on them.

Quite suddenly, and from the cluster of trees directly ahead, a towering, ghostly figure broke out into the nightly air before their eyes.

In an instant, Sasuke's hand was clutching his katana and Hinata had formed the hand signs for Byakugan.

"There will be no need to put up any defences. I am not here to harm any of you," said the spirit-being, as far as they could tell, as it drifted forward toward them majestically, and they studied his face.

His eyes were dark and beady, almost like a beetle's. They held an ardent darkness to them; and his wide, parted lips were stretched out into a forthcoming smile. His body looked like it had been moulded purely from air—exactly what was he?

His skin, an unearthly blue, had mysterious patterns endorsed across his cheeks and forehead.

He lifted up his hands, showing long, sharp and foreboding fingers, and performed quick hand seals—in such a way that Sasuke couldn't even track them with his Sharingan. When the spirit-being finished, he had produced a scroll which was lifted up into mid-air by the beaks of two aged vultures.

Sasuke caught Hinata's overwhelmed, confounded expression, and turned back to face the spirit-being, feeling a dangerous annoyance infuriating him. He had not planned on any of this happening. He needed to get back to Orochimaru soon.

"I am a Shinigami, Ryo. I have the power, once every two-hundred and fifty years, to grant anyone I choose three wishes. I could grant one person three wishes at once or three people one wish each. There is only one condition," The Shinigami continued, a teasing chuckle entering in his voice.

Sasuke shut his eyes in a moment of irritation.

"I don't care about who you are or what you can do, Shinigami. Why are you here and why are you telling us this? You're going to give us _wishes_?" The Uchiha questioned slowly, his voice sharp and harsh, edging with a mocking sardonicism in his last word.

He closed his eyes.

Hinata, on the over hand, looked at Sasuke and silently wondered what Orochimaru had put him through to make him behave so _apathetic_ towards a Shinigami.

"Isn't there something that you desire, Uchiha Sasuke?" The Shinigami asked, his augury lips rising even higher. "...I came here because you both have fitting desires that I can help you to get."

Hinata and Sasuke looked at each other. Hinata quickly lowered her eyes to the wet, forest ground and thought of herself finally being noticed by Naruto... or becoming stronger, and a great heir to the Hyuuga clan.

She looked back up at Sasuke. "...Sasuke?"

"What's the condition?" The Uchiha asked, disregarding Hinata for a moment.

The Shinigami pointed up to the scroll still being suspended in mid-air by the two aged vultures.

"You must sign that contract, both, agreeing that you will do something for each other in exchange for the wish, however big or small it might be..."

"B-But how is this all possible?" Hinata asked finally, her voice wavering gingerly. She felt confused and faint, surprised at the sudden turn of events in that day already: suddenly discovering Sasuke, then a Shinigami, who now wanted to grant them wishes. Was this all a dream? Had she just fainted from her prior training by the waterfall and couldn't release herself from this alarming nightmare?

The Shinigami turned his beetle-eyes onto Hinata, the black holes filled purely with amusement.

"Haven't you been told in your Ninja Academies? The first Hokage, who founded the Leaf village, had wished to discover and rule a great land. I granted him this wish, and now you are standing in the great land which he had asked for. He would have surely spoken of the great Shinigami, Ryo, who had helped him reach his dream?"

Sasuke shook his head, smirking slightly.

"Your kind have mainly been known for Forbidden jutsus and death. You can't teach that to Academy children, and it's clear that the first Hokage wouldn't have stooped so low as to beguile for this village—he fought hard for this land." The Uchiha avenger stated. Sasuke then stepped forward and glared intently into Ryo's beady eyes.

"If you're giving us one wish each and there are three wishes, who are you giving the third wish to?"

The Shinigami chuckled, his chilling intone soaking into their blood. "Deceptive young shinobi, that is for you to find out, if you so feel like. I could give it to anyone..."

Suddenly, with a pang of annoyance, Sasuke realised why Orochimaru had wanted to come to the Leaf village in the first place. He was going to try and find this Shinigami, Ryo, and possess one of his wishes or all three of them for whatever evil purposes that he had in mind.

Sasuke closed his eyes. He reopened them and looked at Hinata resolutely.

"We're signing the Contract, Hyuuga."

Hinata's mouth trembled slightly, unsure, but she didn't say anything and merely gulped.

"Don't worry. He's telling the truth—I can tell that he is with my Sharingan. Be happy that you can have anything that you've ever wanted." Sasuke said shortly. He knew his reason for accepting the wish, and wanting her to do the same too.

He hadn't had interest in them at all in the first place; in fact, he had planned on turning them down from the start—there was something about the Shinigami that Sasuke didn't quite trust, and he wasn't about to risk anything to find out.

But now that Sasuke knew why Orochimaru had come there all along, he didn't want the ex-Sanin to get his sinful hands on a single wish. If he and Hinata both accepted the first two, then there was a chance, however slim, that the Shinigami would quickly give away the third wish to someone who wouldn't use it for corrupt purposes, so that Orochimaru would never get his hands on them, even if he so managed to find Ryo in the end. He would have wanted to use it to receive real immortality, or something on new levels of evil.

Sasuke opened his eyes. He both could not stand the monster doing much worse treacheries, and he had been planning on commencing his plan to defeat Orochimaru for good soon, so he couldn't allow for interferences like the ex-Sanin getting stronger to obliterate his chances either.

The Shinigami curtly chuckled and came forward toward them.

"Touch the parchment and the Contract will be sealed. Expect me to reappear when you have completed the conditions so that I can grant you your wishes, young shinobi."

Hinata's resolve appeared to harden when Sasuke glanced at her. She nodded, her eyes holding a small hint of determination, and stepped forward to touch the parchment first.

It engulfed in bright red fire the moment her fingers touched its surface, and she nearly jumped back in shock.

"What was that?" Sasuke asked darkly, watching the red fire retreat back into the scroll.

"My chakra," said the Shinigami simply, his lips rising painstakingly once again. Hinata gave the Shinigami a fleeting, petrified look as she stepped back.

Sasuke came forward and touched the parchment next; he watched with narrowed eyes as the bright red chakra erupted and consequently departed back into the scroll.

The Shinigami grinned wider, showing them his long teeth for the first time.

"There is no time limit for when you need to do the conditions, but I do beg that you will not take two-hundred and fifty years to help each other, or I'm afraid your wishes will no longer be available!"

The blue Shinigami cackled at his own joke and vanished into thin air, disappearing with the Contract scroll and the two aged vultures.

Although he was gone, at least, as far as they could see, his voice still reached their ears for one last reminder.

"...The Contract permanently holds your names as the owners of the first two wishes. No one else can retrieve them from you, however powerful they think they are."

Sasuke said nothing in the silence that followed.

_But of course, Orochimaru doesn't know that_. Sasuke mused darkly, as he stared into the dense, forest darkness. _If he finds out that we have the wishes, he'll go through any means to get them from us... experimentation to the darkest manipulation of the Curse Seal... _

Sasuke turned to Hinata, so suddenly that he realised he may have scared her.

_She's a strange girl,_ Sasuke thought, but otherwise remained impassive when he spoke to her.

"Meet me here again tomorrow, by sunrise. Don't bring anyone with you."

.

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**Read it. love it. review it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wish For Something**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) and my OCs belong to me, but anything Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Don't plagiarise, it's not cool.

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_Danzo's gaze swept over the night sky._

_He could feel that something big had happened and smiled._

_Now it was time to begin work, manipulating from the shadows..._

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**CHAPTER TWO**

**Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

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Hinata shivered. She stood beside an elderly Katsura tree, waiting and watching for the appearance of Sasuke Uchiha. The previous night's storm had left behind traces of thick condensation to the morning air.

The bland wind which blew past uncomfortably reminded Hinata that this particular part of the forest still remained discretely cryptic and eerie, in its unannounced way. It had lost its intimidating aura, now that it was morning, however, she still felt on edge.

She was scared, guilty and annoyed with herself. Why hadn't she told anyone about the events of the previous, forbidden night—not even Naruto? Hinata closed her eyes and tried to ignore the images of her teammate's facial expressions if she ever came to telling them what had happened... what she had agreed to. _You struck a deal with that Uchiha traitor, and signed a crafty Shinigami's Contract? Why didn't you tell us sooner? _

What she should have done, instead of recklessly coming out here to meet the Uchiha avenger like he'd instructed, alone, now kept tormenting Hinata, to the point where she almost had a panic attack. Fortunately, she managed to calm herself. Did this make her a traitor too?

They were just going to finish the deal, so that they could have their wishes then be off, on their own paths, never to see each other ever again...

Hinata hadn't really known Sasuke while he'd been in the Leaf village as a genin. All that she'd known about him, or at least heard from rumours, was that he was the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan's massacre six years prior. She had often sighted him grudgingly tagged along with Naruto and Sakura around the village, but something about him, to her, had given off an aura of aloneness, suffering, and lastly, hate, which she had not been so sure of at the time.

Now that she understood why he had been like that, it made perfect sense. However, it hurt her seeing Naruto and Sakura going through so much pain trying to bring Sasuke back to the Leaf village... or Sasuke suffering the burden of all that hate towards his brother Itachi, and thinking that he needed to kill him to avenge his clan.

Hinata knew when Sasuke was there. The water which had been gushing out of the waterfall in front of her eyes had strayed out of pattern for a single moment, before consequently resuming. She had a special connection with water, and had it been anything else she might not have sensed that he'd come, or caused that disturbance.

"Hyuuga Hinata." Sasuke acknowledged nonchalantly, his voice evidently bemused. Maybe he'd assumed that she wouldn't have the guts to come out here and meet him.

Now he stood scarcely a meter away from her, completely blocking her view of the waterfall. His attention had turned to a few birds which had taken flight to the sky, on account of his sudden appearance. Could something miniscule like that be enough to alert someone that he was there?

Hinata wished it was true.

Sasuke wore a greyish-bluish high-collared short-sleeved shirt, with the Uchiha crest on the back.

He turned back to her, his gaze naturally dark and eyes fairly prudent. His raven-black hair prodded cheekily in the air, moving in all directions as the wind brushed past it. Hinata meekly reverted her eyes to the ground.

Unexpectedly, Sasuke grabbed Hinata's wrist, then apathetically yanked her sleeve up. The Hyuuga heiress let out a gasp of shock, not just from Sasuke's unanticipated action, but at what her eyes were now witnessing.

A few inches above her elbow was a Seal. Its daunting inky-black characters read, "Soul". How had she not noticed this before? How had it got on her?

Panic immediately trickled into Hinata's system. What did it mean by 'Soul'?

She creased her eyebrows together as a sickening weight fell upon her shoulders; and realised what may, have happened. The Seal could have appeared on her arm after she'd touched the Shinigami's Contract scroll that previous night.

Did this mean that Sasuke had one too? And what did it mean—? Ryo had not mentioned anything about a Seal...

Hinata looked up at him, her eyes admittedly alarmed.

"I have one too. It must have something to do with Ryo's Contract which he hadn't bothered mentioning to us."

Hinata nodded mutely, feeling unsettled, her mind once again willing her voice not to sound as tormented as she now felt.

"W-What do you think it does?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes coldly. "I have a few theories..."

He then shut his eyes completely.

This did not comfort Hinata in the slightest, and before she could contemplate her own feelings, Sasuke interrupted.

"He knows." The Uchiha said.

Hinata looked puzzled. "W—?"

"Orochimaru knows that we have the first two wishes. He spotted my Seal straight away when we re-met and he can probably spot yours a mile away. He didn't make any signs of recognition, but I just _knew_ that he knew. I could feel it. " Sasuke said firmly.

"But then... you're not even safe, if he knows!" Hinata stammered.

_What does it matter to you, Hyuuga girl? _Sasuke thought dryly.

"It makes no difference." The Uchiha stated, impassive. "It was my mistake to think that Orochimaru didn't use sensory jutsus all over the hideout to catch these sort of things. He's a master of Forbidden techniques, and it would be pitiful if he couldn't sense a Forbidden Seal on his future container. Admittedly, I'd only just realised the thing was on my arm, and it might have been too late when I coved it up. He'd probably just seen it." Sasuke added bitterly, Hinata guessing mostly towards the Shinigami for not forewarning them of such a dilemma—that a Seal they had no prior knowledge of would suddenly appear on their arms, and give away that they had the wishes.

Hinata shifted uncomfortably.

"What will get in Orochimaru's way of having whatever he wants? He plans to take over my body anyway and use it as his vessel. My soul will become his, and he can gain access of my wish without difficulty... or so he thinks. And me having this Seal on my arm only makes it more interesting for him. I'm sure he wants to find out what it does too." Sasuke finished derisively.

Hinata had only caught onto: _Orochimaru knows—master of Forbidden techniques—Forbidden Seal—pitiful—take over my body—his vessel—soul will become his—Seal—he wants to find out what it does_.

She pieced this information together, and alarmed at the new news that she had discovered, Hinata simply continued to listen, silent. She was aware that Orochimaru was an evil criminal, and had heard atrocious stories about the types of crimes that he had committed.

"It doesn't bother me." Sasuke continued, his face dark and mind elsewhere. _I plan on ending him soon anyway. _

He turned to address Hinata. "He'll come after you, or most likely send someone out here to capture you for him. Keep on your guard—it's not me who's in danger, it's _you_. The last thing I want is for him to get his hands on a wish, and the easiest one to get is yours. I don't care about what the Shinigami says—_we will forever be the wish's owners_—there are dangerous people with power out there capable of more than his simple mind could hope to imagine..."

Sasuke trailed off and at this point he was thinking about the new jutsu that he'd overheard Orochimaru discussing with Kabuto—the Reanimation jutsu—capable of bringing the dead back to life.

Hinata lowered her eyes in disappointment. In spite of the situation, she couldn't help feeling useless that he'd implied she was weak. _The easiest one to get is yours._

"You've got to promise me something, though, Hyuuga Hinata."

Hinata looked up at Sasuke quizzically. _P-Promise you what?_

"...You can't tell anyone about this." Sasuke said.

Would it make her a traitor if she agreed to this? A traitor to her village... and to Naruto and Sakura? _Hinata, I thought that I could trust you! Why didn't you tell me that you had been meeting up with Sasuke Uchiha? We could have tried to make him to stay... but we've lost our chance now, haven't we? Hinata Hyuuga I am very disappointed in you. As the Hokage I hereby banish you from Konoha, for seeking contact with a missing-nin in our Bingo books and failing to confront him to me!_

What was right? It had been her fault in the first place to agree to sign the Shinigami's Contract that previous night... what her motives had been at the time, Hinata couldn't remember... she just regretted making that decision. Would that regret later on change into gratitude?

At the moment, her only concern was that she was about to land herself into even more regret.

Hinata nodded.

"I-I promise not to tell anyone," she agreed.

However, there was still something that she wished to insinuate and understand.

"Ano... Sasuke, the Seals? What do you think Ryo's motives are for putting them on us? What does it have to do with the C-Contract?"

Hinata noticed the thoughtful expression now occupying Sasuke's face. He'd sat down on a rock by the waterfall, his chin rested reluctantly on the top of his clenched fist.

"It might mean that when we have to help each other the actual thing that we need to help each other with, is removing our Seals. That's just a speculation but it sounds like something that he would put us up to doing."

Sasuke continued. It was almost like they were solving a demanding puzzle.

"The condition says that to have our wishes we both need to help each other. Then a Seal appears on our arms. One thing I do know, is that Ryo has taken something from us with those Seals. It's now trapped in his Contract scroll, waiting from us to realise what it is that we've lost."

Sasuke reached a conclusion. "I think he's taken a part of our souls. And we're going to get it back when we help each other break the Seals. That's how we'll get our wishes."

How had Hinata not noticed that a part of her soul had been taken? She met Sasuke's dark, firm, and challenging gaze and quickly nodded in agreement. She had to oblige... or else... she didn't know what exactly... there just wasn't necessarily a way out.

Sasuke had never trusted Ryo the Shinigami. Now he knew _why_. Ryo had purposefully held important information back from them, knowing that they'd need it—for what reason, Sasuke had no understanding of and it unsettled him. He guessed that Ryo simply wanted to test them, see if they were capable of figuring out what they had to do for themselves without being told the full details.

They were solely an amusing source of entertainment for him, weren't they? He'd make them go through hell to get their wishes—this was probably what he did every two-hundred and fifty years to keep himself ridiculed that his existence was actually wanted.

Sasuke scoffed. Tch.

He understood that it had been a natural risk to accept the Shinigami's Contract, but he'd had no other choice and he would remain with no other choice. He couldn't allow Orochimaru to get any of them, even though there was still one out there left to go. Now there was just a higher chance of the ex-Sanin's failure, and Sasuke was completely content with that.

He glanced at Hinata, knowing automatically that he needed her—it went without saying. She was the owner of the second wish... and if his speculation was right and she helped him to remove his Seal, and he did the same for her... then he'd finally be able to _use_ his wish and Orochimaru would have a lower chance of gaining his sought for power.

"We need to help each other remove the Seals. We'll find a way."

Hinata didn't say anything in the silence that followed. If she could tell Tsunade about the situation, then she would feel more comfortable about agreeing to this deal. Or _anyone_, for that matter.

"Y-Yes." She finally agreed. Her fingers meekly travelled over the Seal on her arm.

"Sasuke... what are you, um, going to do with your wish? After we've helped each other to break the Seals a-and get our souls back?" She asked, determinedly forcing herself not to regret having asked at all. She needed to know. When this whole ordeal was over, she wanted to be able to rest in peace with the knowledge that Sasuke wouldn't abuse the wish's power and use it for vengeance. That would upset Naruto... and if it had been fate which had brought her into the same clearing as Sasuke, maybe it was her responsibility to make sure he didn't, or slip further into his own darkness...

Unfortunately, Hinata couldn't help meeting Sasuke's tactful gaze and knew immediately that she would not be getting the answer that she'd hoped for.

Sasuke looked at her calculatingly. Why did the Hyuuga girl accept and trust him so unnervingly?

What puzzled Sasuke about Hinata was that she had not betrayed him to any of her comrades yet. It was like she was offing him a second chance to make his own decisions. She hadn't made a move to convince him to stay in the Leaf village, like Sakura, or Ino, or _any_ other female ninja might've at the very first chance.

The silence that followed her question did not quench Hinata's nerves.

"Give me one good reason why I should tell you?" Sasuke finally challenged indifferently. This was his usual taciturn behaviour and he intended to keep it that way. He couldn't afford _to open up_ _to anyone_, he merely needed Hinata in order to have his wish. He hadn't actually thought about what he'd use it for, in all honestly. He was amused that she'd asked. Admittedly, it hadn't been his desire or in any of his interest to inherit one in the first place—_he'd just had to act fast at the threat that Orochimaru would take it instead_.

Hinata gulped. Luckily, Sasuke's interest had now turned.

"We'll re-meet again in a few weeks—I can't make any promises on the precise date or time." Sasuke added, his features not betraying anything, but Hinata suspected his motives for not giving her an exact date or time could be due to mistrust.

"... And I don't care if you decide to do your own research in the meantime on breaking the Seals, just make sure that you don't get caught in the act. I'll contact you somehow when it's time to re-meet, and let you know where I'm waiting for you."

XXX

Hinata's urgency disgruntled the civilians who she accidently stumbled into or stepped on, and she just counted herself lucky that her father hadn't been one of the many people that she'd bumped into in her haste to the library.

She finally reached the large building and wasted no time finding the section that she needed: Forbidden seals.

For a full fruitless twenty minutes Hinata searched, coming across many abhorrent things that she wished she hadn't read, when a familiar voice behind her, paused her vigorous search.

"What are you looking for, Hinata? Do you want me to help you?" Tenten asked, her features kind, soft and curious. Hinata turned around and gave Tenten a shaky smile then quickly shook her head.

"No... but thanks, Tenten." Hinata said softly. "... How are you?"

Tenten's smile dropped. "I'm fine, Hinata. Training is going fine, too, I think. I just get bored easily and Tsunade hasn't given my team any new, interesting or challenging missions. I think it's getting to Neji and Lee as well. We're all restless. So what about you?" Tenten finally asked.

Hinata smiled. "I'm fine, thank you, Tenten—e-everything's fine. I hope you'll get a good mission soon t-too, likewise."

Tenten gave Hinata a quizzical look for a second, which made Hinata cringe and wonder if it was so obvious that something _was_ indeed wrong, when she finally said, "But are you sure that there isn't anything I can help you with... I have plenty of time to offer help, after all."

Hinata looked down nervously. Her fingers found their way over the slender material of her jacket to the spot just above her elbow and lingered there unconsciously. She never liked being put on the spot and despised lying to her comrades more, but she couldn't seem too suspicious...

"Well, um, there is... something which I'd like to know more about. What do you know about F-Forbidden seals, with the characters 'Soul' inscribed onto them?"

_"I don't care if you decide to do your own research in the meantime on breaking the Seals, just make sure that you don't get caught in the act."_

Hinata had completely forgotten that Sasuke had told her not to get caught researching their Seals, which meant that no one could know what she was researching. Her mind had completely cleared of all thoughts other than those regarding the task at hand—find as much information as she could related to their situation—for fear that if she let her mind think of anything else, she would stray into something not too short of the reality of her own situation, and meltdown. She needed to keep herself busy. And thus, she had forgotten Sasuke's words and made one vital mistake...

Tenten looked thoughtful for a moment before nonchalantly replying, "I believe that they appear on someone when a part of their soul has been extracted from them," The bun-haired kunoichi murmured; "and there's something else but it could be wrong."

"Ano, please... it doesn't m-matter, it might help!" Hinata urged delicately, feeling desperate.

"Well... if I remember correctly, a Forbidden Seal like that usually gets placed onto someone by a Shinigami. And consequently, a Shinigami can only be seen when they grasp onto one's soul. It must somehow be connected. Are you alright?" Tenten added in concern.

"Y-Yes... I'm fine." Hinata reassured, snapping her head back up from contemplation. The previous night when she had touched the Shinigami's Contract scroll it had sealed away a small portion of her soul into it. Then the Seal had appeared on her arm, unknowing to her.

Hinata already knew this information, but at least now she could feel thoroughly clear and convinced of what had happened.

The only thing left now, was finding out how they were supposed to remove the seals on their arms and get their souls back.

"Do you know how... um, they could get their soul back? If it is possible to remove the Seal p-placed onto them by the Shinigami?"

Tenten creased her eyebrows. "Well, I've never heard that there was a way the Seal could be removed. However, I think I might know someone who knows if there _is_ a way... Sai."

"Thank you!" Hinata quickly bided in gratitude, not just glad for the refining information, but also for Tenten not questioning her about why she wanted information on such things.

Hinata found Sai rather more easily than she felt comfortable with. He had actually been inside the very same library, and quite unusually, he had been standing hardly a few meters away from her, appearing to be looking at the book shelves in front of him in deep thought.

When Hinata approached him, he had not looked surprised at her appearance and fixed her with his uncanny smile. She nervously explained to him what she already knew about the Forbidden Seal, and asked anxiously if he knew of any way that it could be removed.

Sai paused for several moments to gather up his thoughts then answered her with a concise explanation.

She expected no less, knowing that he was a member of the Root foundation and worked hard under Danzo, who had been known to place Curse seals on all his Root members to prevent information about himself being betrayed by them. Not only that, but Sai was bound to have heard about many Forbidden techniques as it was said that Danzo used so many himself, and with his members.

Sai explained to her that the way to help someone remove their Seal is by changing them. Changing them so that they are a different person to the person that they had been before the Seal had been placed on them.

"... the Forbidden jutsu will then merge away along with the Seal because it latches onto the easiest part of one's soul—the Emotional district. Luckily, the Emotional district can flexibly change its loyalties. When it changes to another emotional state of attitude, the Seal is left behind to dwell on nothing. It can no longer latch onto its former emotional host and vanishes."

"Just remember that it is not easy to change someone's emotional attitude. Many have tried to do it in the past—vigorously striving for years—but failed. If it has taken someone so many years to be in the emotional state that they are currently in, then it should only logically take equally as long to change them to an alternate emotional state."

He explained it to her like a robot and Hinata found it painstakingly ironic that it was Sai, the village's least adapt person with emotions, who had explained something like that to her.

Hinata couldn't help having the twisted feeling that he was joking with her. Why? Was she missing something? She barely knew him, so why did she feel this way?

Hinata shifted uncomfortably.

She nodded and thanked him, trying to ignore the way she felt his eyes bore into her back as she turned away and left.

At the moment, all of Sasuke's speculations had been right: the Shinigami had taken a part of their souls, and there _was_ a way to get them back... then they could have their wishes.

_She's deceptive. _Sai thought, his smile never wavering as he watched Hinata delicately leave the library. _She can sense manipulation and lies a mile away. She was suspicious._

.

.

.

.

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* * *

_... and use the unseen ones._

_They, who support the great tree of Konoha._

_From the deepest depths of the Earth._

* * *

**A/N: **ACKNOWLEDGMENTS GO TO: **DaAnimeChick**, **umnia**, **Guest**, **suicune4ever** and **Death Sender**! Thank you for reviewing!

**Read it. love it. review it. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Wish For Something**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) and my OCs belong to me, but anything Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Don't plagiarise, it's not cool.

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE**

**Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

* * *

A month had passed since Hinata had last seen Sasuke. When they next re-met—and Hinata had not the faintest inkling of when_ that_ would be, or the power over that especially—she would have to explain to him how they were to remove their Seals. The whole process of changing each other emotionally.

Hinata just couldn't see _how_ _she_ was supposed to change Sasuke Uchiha. He had spent most of his life basking in hate towards his brother Itachi, and it had brought him so far as to leave the Leaf village.

He had also seemed extremely powerful on the night that they had first met—while she'd had Byakugan activated, mainly in defence against the Shinigami, Hinata had noticed his massive chakra capacity for herself. It had been frightening yet unusually familiar at the same time. This was completely irrelevant, but the fact that her mind had brought it up couldn't be a good sign?

Hinata sighed and redirected her thoughts, knowing that it would be pointless to get herself worked up about the over-all crisis.

She had participated in four successful B-Rank missions with her team in the month that had passed and she had managed to do more independent training. Hinata could definitely see signs of improvement beginning to surface in her performance. Neji had also been assisting her in training, which did help along with her teammate's perseverance, albeit painfully—he never deliberated holding back.

Hinata swept her hair out of the way and began undressing. She picked up the clothes which she had laid out on her bed for today's occasion. Today, the village would be holding a festival to celebrate the start of spring—Hinata did not look forward to this. All it meant, in her eyes, was being surrounded by spoilt—and dare she say—stuck up, adults and offspring alike, to rich families or descendants.

A perfect opportunity to brag about respective families' riches, or argue over that matter indignantly; and Hinata could sadly confirm that her father tended to participate in that.

The whole point was that every year something bad would happen to her at this festival. Last year a young boy had managed to get a crushed riceball, which had clearly been played with rather than eaten, _sake_—how on earth, Hinata couldn't understand to this day—noodles and vomit alike all over her shoes...

Hinata zipped up her flowery kimono at the back and powdered her face lightly. She sighed.

Naruto was sure to be at the festival. Her stomach felt like it was drowning in a sea of poison and her heart felt like it was ready to turn into a black hole.

She had not given up hope on him yet, although lately she couldn't help avoiding him, and hadn't spoken to him in ages for fear that if she did, she might tell him everything, and wouldn't be able to hold it back from him for much longer.

"Good, you're ready." Hiashi Hyuuga stated curtly as Hinata entered the living quarters.

"You will be representing the whole of the Hyuuga clan at this festival; I am unable to attend." He said.

"W-Why?" Hinata stammered in surprise. "... I mean, why can't you go?" She quickly corrected herself.

Her father raised his eyebrows at her in question. Hinata waited for him to scold her for questioning his motives. But as his eldest daughter, the heiress, she wanted to at least know what he got up to when she wasn't in the household, or where his current desires lay, other than in training Hanabi to be the prodigy that she clearly was not.

"Ah, good you asked. Somebody might question you about my absence and I don't want you to answer them senselessly. They will think that something was wrong."

XXX

Sasuke had managed to slip away from Orochimaru's hideout so far, and now he stood deftly a few miles away from the Leaf village. He hoped that the genjutsu he'd left behind at the base would keep people away from where he was supposed to be. They knew better than to go near the waterfalls where he trained, unless they wished to get shot with lightening.

He had three hours at best.

Sasuke knew that he could not continue the rest of the way to the Leaf village without putting up a disguise to change his outward appearance. They would recognise him straight away if he set foot in the Leaf village without one, and since he had no idea where Hinata would be, he'd need to venture inside the village to look around for her distinctive chakra signature.

He didn't know how many times he would have to repeat this process of coming to re-meet the Hyuuga girl before they eventually removed their Seals and got the wishes. If he was not careful his disappearances were bound to strike Orochimaru and Kabuto as suspicious.

It would be a somewhat inconvenient long-winded process. However, when the time finally came and Sasuke dealt with Orochimaru...

_... things will progress faster. I'll have access to all his research... there should be something about the removal of Forbidden Seals there—I'm sure of it. I'll be able to re-meet Hinata at will._

Sasuke looked around the forest's wide expanse with his Sharingan. No one was there.

He activated the genjutsu. His hair lightened, and lightened until it was a shade of brown, and it fell into his face. It also flattened down where it had been spikey at the back of his head. His raven-black eyes gradually turned a few shades darker than his newly brown hair so that it was bay-coloured.

The sleeves of his greyish-bluish shirt lengthened then darkened its colour until he was wearing a traditional shirt with the Uchiha crest gone completely.

Sasuke found Hinata quickly as he entered the village. They were holding some sort of festival rather than patrolling the forests for intruders. Lucky for them, he wasn't there to cause any devastation.

He ignored the laughing people around him and made his way to her. He had sensed her chakra signature somewhere amongst the huge gathering of villagers, somewhere at the back.

A girl stopped Sasuke while he had been walking to compliment him on his dazzling appearance. He didn't so much as look at her and carried on.

He had finally caught sight of Hinata. She was sitting under a stout Kaede tree which had been heavily decorated with lit lanterns. No one else was with her.

Sasuke waited a moment to look at Hinata. Her expression seemed gentle and happy but simple gestures like the fiddling of her fingers betrayed that she felt uncomfortable and sad alternatively.

She wore a beautiful flowered kimono which boasted her feminine features. Sasuke silently wondered why she didn't wear things like that more often—it suited her well—and didn't she have a crush on the idiot? Dresses like that were sure to catch Naruto's attention, in his opinion. The dobe was such a pervert.

And why wear baggy clothes when you had a good figure?

She looked startled to see that someone was there as he approached her.

Hinata looked up at the person who now stood in front of her expectantly, supposedly out of nowhere. She noticed that he had long golden brown hair which fell into his eyes, and speaking of which, his dark brown eyes reminded her of someone. They were solemn... deadly serious. But right now they seemed a bit relaxed. Wait, why was she even pondering this?

"Hinata," He said in a deep compelling voice, and she snapped out of her thoughts, looking at him apologetically.

"Ano... sorry. How do you know my name?" She asked, perturbed.

_Because I'm really Sasuke Uchiha. _Sasuke thought. But as he looked at Hinata, he decided, and he didn't know why, that he would not to tell her who he was just yet.

Sasuke felt a smirk sneaking up onto his face.

"That's your name, isn't it?" He asked.

Hinata nodded, trying to push aside the jauntiness in his tone.

"I just guessed—the Hyuuga clan's heiress is called Hinata. And you're a Hyuuga. It looks like you're here on your own. Why?" Sasuke pushed, after the blunt statement, not quite sure of what type of accomplishment he wished to gain out of this.

Why didn't he just tell her that it was him and get their situation with the Seals over with? He needed to warn her about the growing threat of Orochimaru and Kabuto. They were getting... restless.

Hinata looked up at the boy who seemed to be the same age as her and seemed to want to keep her talking, questioningly.

He wasn't _supposed_ to care about her state of well-being. People at this festival usually only cared about themselves and the statuses of their clans. If he was just the arrogant heir of a clan or the son of a rich family heritage, why did he feel the need to keep her company, or care about the fact that she had come here all alone with no one else to talk to?

Hinata responded to his question.

"I-I'm here to represent the Hyuuga clan—my father has business to deal with... an important appointment with the elders." She stopped there. Her father would not have wanted her to go any further, especially to someone who didn't seem to belong to any of the prestigious clans at this festival. He seemed too... too...

Hinata lowered her eyes to the ground, excepting him to leave her now that his curiousness had been fed. But he did not.

Instead, he sat down on the other end of her bench. Who was he?—Hinata wondered silently.

"What's on your mind?" Sasuke found himself asking her. Maybe this talk could benefit him. He could find out whether she had betrayed him to anyone yet. Why else would he bother speaking to her as just a normal, passing village boy and not the fierce, scary Uchiha avenger? It wasn't because he wanted to have a normal conversation with her, without her feeling anxious because it was _him _she was talking to, obviously?

"Well..." Hinata began, not sure if she should be trusting this person whose name she didn't even know. But she found herself talking to him anyway. She was opening up to him.

"S-Something big happened recently... and," Hinata looked up at him regretfully. "I can't tell you what it is... no one must know." Hinata said firmly, remembering that she had promised Sasuke not to tell _anyone _about their situation with the wishes.

Sasuke smirked. He was impressed by Hinata's loyalty to him. And seeing that it actually appeared to hurt her to be breaking away from her comrades and village like this, he decided to say something—most unusually—that might comfort her.

Of course he was only doing this so that she would continue to keep loyal to him for longer?

"Stop being ashamed. It's good to have people in this world who can keep their word. That just makes you reliable—there _are_ people who can't do it, and they probably get themselves into even worse situations." The brown-haired boy smirked at her knowingly. Hinata tried to over-look his knowing smirks since it made her feel slightly uneasy, and something else which she couldn't decipher, then quickly decided that it was her turn to ask a question.

"W-What's your name?" Hinata asked since it was apparent that he already knew hers.

"It doesn't matter." He answered rather sharp and dismissively.

Hinata had not expected that response and opted to shifting uncomfortably in her seat to mask her surprise. Something about this person reminded her of Sasuke... but the real Sasuke wouldn't waste his time taking to her like this, surely?

Hinata wanted to distract herself from this thought and found herself looking around at the people smiling and having a good time around her.

Naruto was having an arm wrestle with Choji—the heir to the Akimichi clan—for his big bag of potato chips. Sakura loomed over the pair brusquely cheering Naruto on.

Hinata tore her gaze away.

When she turned back to the brown-haired boy, she realised that he had followed her gaze to the three wild ninjas, and was staring at them with an unfathomable expression on his face.

Hinata's cheeks heated and she fidgeted. To have followed her gaze must've meant that he'd been looking at her...

Most ironically, Hinata found herself speaking to him again before she could stop herself. "And there's one person I-I especially wish I could speak to about the big thing that had happened... but I can't." Hinata trailed off. She tried her best not to look at Naruto.

Naruto. Sasuke guessed it was him easily, without having to give it much thought. Despite what she had just told him, Sasuke didn't feel guilty— _he_ hadn't chosen to be in the same clearing as her when the Shinigami had appeared—their situation had been _unavoidable_—an unfortunate twist of fate, a mistake, a _crisis_ if she so chose to think of it that way, _not his_. The fact that he just conveniently needed her in all of this gamble to lower Orochimaru's chances of getting a wish was just pure coincidence.

Sasuke watched Hinata and tried to get into her mind—why hadn't she given up on the dobe yet? He clearly wouldn't notice her unless someone reminded him of her existence, so what hope did she have, much less, that he would realise she had affections for him?

Sasuke decided that it was time Hinata knew his identity.

"Hinata," He said. He got her attention. She turned to him.

Sasuke lifted the genjutsu.

"... I'm Sasuke."

Hinata's eyes widened. The brown-haired boy had just told her that his name was Sasuke, and now he wasn't so brown-haired anymore. The once golden-brown locks had darkened as if someone had just splattered dye all over his hair and now she was looking into the face of Sasuke Uchiha.

_Sasuke?! _Hinata thought in disbelief. But... no, there must be some mistake... wait... how could—?

She thought she must have been hallucinating because his appearance returned to the one she had gotten used for the past twenty minutes.

"That's the last time I'm showing you." Sasuke stated. "If I release it again I might not be so lucky."

Hinata knew she'd been wrong to think that she'd been hallucinating immediately. That voice. Now that she paid close attention to his compelling, deep, scratchy intone, how had she not known?

Hinata only managed, "S... S-Sasuke... but why?"

Why had he bothered to enlighten her with a somewhat revitalising conversation before showing her his identity? Why he been patient enough to listen to her rambling?

"Let's just leave all the questions for now." Sasuke said. Since, in all honestly, he would not have been able to answer that question and he was running out of time.

He briefly glared at an affluent girl standing not far away them who had been giving him suggestive winks for the past minute roughly. She huffed, offended, and her smile dropped consequently the moment her eyes set upon Hinata's face.

Sasuke ignored her. He looked straight back at Hinata.

"We needed to re-meet eventually. So I'm here," he stated bluntly. "I also have a warning to give you. I've got about two hours left to give you this warning and get back to the hideout."

Hinata nodded and shifted her fingers uncomfortably.

"Be extra careful, Hinata." Sasuke said, his eyes narrowed with a strange sereneness. "I can sense Kabuto and Orochimaru getting restless. They're obviously too selfish to wait until it's their time to take advantage of me and get my wish. They might turn their attention onto you. I have a feeling that they know you have the second one... "

Hinata pretended that this news did not scare her to the core. The thought of Orochimaru experimenting on her to get her wish was worse than... than anything.

"Sasuke..." Hinata whispered meekly. That got his attention quite easily. He looked straight at her with some degree of expectancy.

Ignoring the pressure that his dark, unrelenting gaze brought, Hinata prepared herself to tell him everything Sai had relayed. The way that they could remove their Seals.

Despite the fact that Sai's odd _questionable_ behaviour the previous month at the library had many times led Hinata to question the reliability of his information, she had eventually decided that she had just wanted an excuse to not delve further into the situation with the Seals, and immediately snapped herself out of it.

She had resolved on that day that when she next re-met Sasuke, she would tell him everything, uncertain or not.

"I-I know of a way to remove the Seals." Hinata murmured delicately.

Sasuke's eyes flashed. He himself hadn't started researching anything on removing the Seals yet because _for one_, Orochimaru needed to be dead first. Then Sasuke would raid the hideout and every other base scattered across the Sound village that Orochimaru had set up for information.

"Go on," Sasuke urged impatiently. He was curious to hear what she had found out.

Hinata jumped slightly. She noticed that now the only light sources that were keeping the whole area from entering complete darkness, were the lit lanterns in the trees. There were less people at the festival. The noise level had died down tenfold.

"Y-Yes... ano." Hinata meekly explained to Sasuke everything that Sai had told her. He didn't interrupt her despite her many pauses and apologies. He didn't say _anything_.

Hinata found it doubtful the moment she had finished explaining Sai's theory to Sasuke that he would oblige to this way of removing their Seals. Why would he want to waste his time changing her emotionally and letting her change _him_ emotionally?

Hinata shook her head and looked down at the ground where a bay cat had just scurried past.

"Do _you_ want to do it that way?" Sasuke finally asked acerbically. Hinata diverted her eyes to the ground. She couldn't help noting the sarcasm in his voice but if she had to answer him truthfully...

"N—I mean, I-I don't know." Hinata said. If she felt confident that she could actually do it—change Sasuke's soul's emotional district—then she might have stammered a 'yes' instead. Except at the moment she felt like it would be an impossible task.

The way that the strategy sounded to Sasuke, could only be described in one word. _Stupid_.

_Why would the Shinigami really place a Forbidden Seal on us that could only be removed by emotional change? It does sound like something that Ryo would put us up to... but it doesn't suit to my liking. I'm starting to dislike that Shinigami... because if that _**is**_ the only way to remove the Seals..._

Tch. Sasuke scowled and turned away to glare at the trees.

For a moment as he glared at the Kaedes, basking in exasperation and annoyance, he thought that he'd seen a shadow flicker just out of sight.

But before anymore could be said or done, Sasuke and Hinata both found themselves facing someone new.

"Well, if it isn't you, Uchiha Sasuke. I never thought I'd be meeting you again in this village unless it was to visit you behind bars. So what brings you here? And why are you with Hinata?" Kakashi Hatake asked casually, as if he was catching up with a well-acquainted friend and not Sasuke, a three-year missing-nin, the Uchiha avenger.

Hinata hyperventilated in shock as she looked up into both Kakashi's Sharingan, and normal eye.

Either Kakashi was going to expose Sasuke to everyone right here, right now—with Naruto and Sakura only yards away—or he would report this to the Hokage and Hinata herself would be marked off as a traitor to the village!

"How did you know it was me?" Sasuke asked Kakashi bluntly, completely unconcerned about the threat that he could pose as. "... I'm using a high-level genjutsu and I masked my chakra," Sasuke stated, his expression nothing but bemused.

Again, Sasuke was behaving _apathetic_ in a completely alarming situation. Did challenges like these appeal to the Uchiha avenger so much?—Hinata wondered quietly, terrified that she was about to be chased out of the village and marked as a traitor with pitchforks and torches straddling her, whereas Sasuke sat where he was indifferently.

"Don't underestimate me. I was once Anbu, Sasuke." Kakashi said warningly. "I was instructed to guard at this festival, and what a surprise it was to find _you_ here." The jonin said, no hint of warmness or welcoming in his voice. He sounded somewhat disgusted and ashamed.

Hinata flinched.

"Are you going to tell me why you're here—or am I going to have to force it out of you?"

Sasuke smirked. He let out a short, dry chuckle.

"Don't tell me you'll turn me over to the idiot and Sakura once I'm finished explaining myself? It'll get their hopes up." Sasuke said.

Wait, he was going to _tell_ Kakashi? Everything?

Hinata shifted her gaze back to the Uchiha avenger in plain shock.

Did she think he was crazy?—Sasuke thought in amusement. He had seen Hinata eye him in questioning not that it bothered him—she could think what she wanted.

"Go on, you can tell me." Kakashi urged coldly, now looking at Hinata with suspicion. "Otherwise I'm going to change my mind about listening to you at all. I should have just restrained you straight away. This better be good."

Kakashi wouldn't know what the meaning of _better be good _truly meant until he heard their story.

"Kakashi, me and the Hyuuga girl were both stopped by a Shinigami a month ago weren't we, Hinata? He wanted to give us wishes."

Hinata nodded quickly, meekly, but did not look into Kakashi's eyes. "Y-Yes."

"He said that to have our wishes we had to do something to help each other..."

Would Kakashi really believe this?—Hinata pleaded that he would with all her heart. They had to get out of this.

The jonin just stood there with an unrelenting, sceptical expression.

"Kakashi, you have Sharingan activated and you can tell that I'm not lying—you've _got_ to believe me. Why deny it?" Sasuke stated plainly, not in the mood to do any persuading.

"Yes, I believe you." Kakashi finally confirmed. He furrowed his eyebrows. Hinata was beginning to become increasingly uncomfortable with the way that Kakashi held his forehead protector up and stared at them relentlessly with both his Sharingan and normal eye.

"But that's not the full story, is it? Carry on. I want to hear everything."

Hinata heard Sasuke sigh, and watched him close his eyes.

He then explained to Kakashi everything that they knew so far. He told Kakashi about the Seals which had taken a part of their souls and how they believed it was linked with the Contract and needed to be removed so that they could get their wishes.

"... and the Hyuuga girl claims that a way to get them removed is by making the emotional district of our souls change its loyalties." Sasuke said unconcernedly. He showed Kakashi his Seal.

When Sasuke lifted up his black shirt sleeve, Hinata saw a bandage wrapped securely around his elbow, covering the Seal. If she had Byakugan activated, she would probably be able to see it.

"You can see it with your Sharingan, can't you?" Sasuke pried.

Kakashi stood still for a moment and absorbed everything that Sasuke had just told him in the past few minutes and now the Seal before his eyes which was pure evidence. Finally he dropped his forehead protector back over his eye.

"Let me just ask you one more question, Sasuke." Kakashi began, his expression not betraying anything.

"Go on," Sasuke urged, smugly. It was clear that he had confidence everything would go his way.

"Is there any chance that you're returning to the Leaf village?" Kakashi tried.

Sasuke smirked.

"Not until I get my revenge, and even then I might not return."

Sasuke glanced at the trees. He needed to get back. He turned back to Kakashi.

"You aren't going to tell Naruto and Sakura, are you?" Sasuke added, giving a half-hearted glance in Naruto and Sakura's direction. They were now having a vicious potato-chip eating competition with Choji.

Hinata turned away sadly. If Naruto had heard that from Sasuke, he would be heartbroken. But he was too absorbed in racing Choji through ten bags of potato chips to notice that anything was wrong... that Sasuke sat disguised under a genjutsu behind their backs.

And Sasuke hadn't so much as glanced at them half-heartedly when he bothered to acknowledge that they were there.

Kakashi closed his eyes.

"Sasuke, for some reason... just this once, I will let your presence in the Leaf village slip. Your situation," He then glanced at Hinata briefly. "seems unavoidable. It wasn't planned. But you should know, Sasuke, in ordinary conditions I would not have been as cooperative."

Kakashi continued. "I give you my word that I won't tell anyone. However that does not change anything—you won't be getting any special treatment from me, Sasuke—your still a missing-nin in our bingo books."

Sasuke didn't seem surprised, he looked unfazed. "What about Hinata?" Sasuke asked.

Hinata's head snapped up immediately. She looked at Sasuke in alarm who ignored her wide-eyed gaze.

"... I was getting to that." Kakashi said. "Hinata, it seems that Sasuke made you promise not to tell anyone—it was both right and wrong. Now that I know about your situation, you can count yourself covered. The Hokage doesn't need to be informed about what's happened just yet, unless either of you plan on using the wishes to betray the Leaf village. Otherwise I'll have your back."

"No, I-I—we won't!" Hinata quickly confirmed. She tried to ignore the amused look Sasuke was giving her: _I won't now, will I?_

"Keep me informed whenever anything new arises—and I want to know when you've both removed your Seals." Kakashi said.

Sasuke nodded impatiently. Hinata nodded too and noticed that he only seemed to be listening half-heartedly to the jonin now.

"Look, I've got to go." Sasuke said, holding himself back from adding 'stop wasting my time', since Kakashi had already done so much for them and he owed him _some_ respect.

Sasuke turned to Hinata, his dark gaze penetrating into her soul, and he could tell that it unsettled her. "Hinata, remember what I told you." Sasuke said.

Hinata nodded meekly. "Y-Yes, Sasuke... and I've been, um, training myself in defenc—"

Sasuke interrupted her before she could finish, his attention already turned back to Kakashi.

"—by the way, Kakashi, could you keep an eye on the Hyuuga girl for me? Orochimaru and Kabuto might come after her." Sasuke said, as if he was just asking Kakashi for a simple favour.

Kakashi sighed and turned to Hinata. He nodded. "You can be certain of her protection."

Hinata stammered a 'thank you' in gratitude—Kakashi already had his normal job to tend to as a jonin captain and this burden of keeping an eye on her couldn't exactly be wanted. It was even more generous of him.

"Good," Sasuke said. He didn't offer any fare-well, say when he'd next be re-meeting her, or thank Kakashi for his hospitality.

He just left.

Ironically, it was then that Naruto decided to take notice of Hinata and Kakashi. He came over to them, grinning widely.

"Hey, what's up? Do you want to join the potato-chip eating contest?"

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**A/N: **ACKNOWLEDGMENTS GO TO: **Saki-Hime**, **DageRee**, **Rosebunse**, **Death Sender**, **suicune4ever** and **ultima-owner**! Thank you for your reviews! :D

**Ahhhhh review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Wish For Something**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) and my OCs belong to me, but anything Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Don't plagiarise, it's not cool.

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**CHAPTER FOUR**

**Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

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"Hinata, where have you been?" Tsunade bellowed the moment Hinata stepped into her appointed surgery ward. Hinata cringed. "Come here, now!" Tsunade roared. The two medics beside the female Sanin let out grim smiles of relief. They were no longer a medic short.

Hinata obliged unquestioningly.

Once every two weeks she helped out at the hospital to keep her medical nin training updated. Hinata also did it as a way of compensating to Tsunade for all the time that she let get consumed with training rather than helping out at the hospital. Also, she didn't mind helping those diseased or injured.

However, these shifts happened to be extra-long, strenuous and demanding, and considering that she hadn't practiced healing for some over-due time, today Hinata would probably have an even worse experience than normal.

Hinata had moved slowly towards the ward mainly due to distraction. Ever since the festival two weeks ago, feelings of relief had swamped her. Kakashi now knowing about her situation with Sasuke and Seals and the fact that he was on her side had lifted some weight from Hinata's shoulders and made her feel less traitorous than before.

The price to pay for these uplifting thoughts had made her late for the shift.

"S-Sorry I'm late!" Hinata apologised guiltily.

Tsunade made a noise that resembled a growl and batted a scalpel impatiently. "There's no time for that! Grab one of his legs and get started healing his minor wounds while I seal up the internal damage done to his lungs!"

Hinata nodded and immediately placed her hands over the patient's legs. He was unconscious for the moment. Hinata knitted her eyebrows together and tried to get into the right string of mind. She guided her chakra around the wound and waited, stubbornly and relentlessly keeping up efficient chakra control so that the wound could eventually seal together.

As she continued to heal, Hinata noticed that the light-haired medic beside her seemed to be doing something weird with her chakra to the patient; Hinata observed with her Byakugan activated that it looked like the medic was using her chakra to surround the patient's brain, and some of it trickled into his bloodstream, slowing down the speed at which his blood pumped through his veins.

"W-What are you doing with your chakra? Is it to help with the patient's cell regeneration?" Hinata mused aloud whilst Tsunade barked an order at the dark-haired medic on the other side of her.

The medic with light hair turned to Hinata and grinned. "It's a technique us medics like to use called Muishiki. I'm making him stay in a deep state of unconsciousness. He won't be able to feel anything while in this state as we operate on him and it's a nice place to escape to—a dreamless dimension where only rest exists."

She paused for a moment to focus on what she was doing before resuming. Hinata winced at the thought of being locked away in the unknown, forced into complete powerlessness with an eternity to spend waiting.

"My chakra is in his bloodstream and it is helping to keep him stabilised. The chakra I'm surrounding around his brain is easing his brain activity. That is all you have to do to establish Muishiki." She said.

Hinata nodded promptly, and her heart fluttered with delight as she noticed that one of the cuts she had been working on had already healed. Only four more left to go. The patient's leg now looked less pale than it had been previously.

The light haired medic turned to Hinata and inclined her head.

"Why don't you take over from me and try Muishiki? You'll never know when it'll come into use. I'll take over healing those leg wounds for you."

"Um, alright. T-Thanks." Hinata stammered nervously, switching positions with the light-haired medic. What if she got it wrong and ended up ruining all their hard work by killing the patient when she attempted Muishiki?

"Just hold your chakra securely like this and carefully trickle it into his blood stream. When you envelope it around his brain, just keep the pressure stable. You don't want to damage any cells by exerting too much force. Just imagine circuiting you chakra around his body and brain like a gentle wheel."

The light-haired medic retracted her hands from the patient and suddenly Hinata felt a huge weight of responsibility drop onto her shoulders.

She knitted her eyebrows together, leaned forward, placed one hand on his forehead and placed the other hand on his wrist.

Slowly, Hinata allowed her chakra to trickle into the patient's bloodstream. Her heart hammered in her chest as she sensed his blood pressure already quickening in speed. It shouldn't to be that fast. She had to slow it down somehow. What had the medic told her to do?

"Who's in charge of the Muishiki?" Tsunade demanded sharply. "Pick up your act, fast! We're struggling to detach the broken ribs from his lung! We need a steady heart rate and an unconscious patient, establish it!"

Hinata nodded determinedly, and with a fierce stubbornness she made her chakra usher the blood circulating in the patient's body abide to her control. It grudgingly steadied.

Hinata felt exhausted already. At least she had managed to stabilise his blood pressure. She bit her lip. She next had to envelop his brain. That would be a difficult task.

With her other hand placed on his forehead, Hinata started to channel her chakra towards his brain. It didn't deem easy, but she managed to hatch the process of making gentle circles with her chakra around the surface area of his brain. She did not exert too much force. With her Byakugan activated, Hinata could see that it looked like a ball trapped inside a spinning cryptic mist yet no harm could be done to it.

Ten minutes seemed to pass in silence as the four medics worked on their own sectors of the patient; then Tsunade's voice broke the silence like a knife.

"Hinata, stop the Muishiki. It's safe enough to leave that now, he won't be wake again for a long time, now get helping me! We need to re-mend his severed rib-cage and get it re-structured as it supposed to be... although I might have to replace one of his True Ribs. The bone's been shattered into too many small fragments." Tsunade added in a murmur.

Hinata nodded and they got to work.

Her busy, strenuous day at the medical unit eventually finished—with the operation being a success.

Hinata used the end of her sleeve to wipe away beads of sweat from her forehead and sighed. The light-haired medic, Tsunade and the dark-haired medic were panting exhaustedly.

Hinata smiled and looked down at the patient's peaceful face. She felt glad, and proud of all the hard work that she had put into the surgery. He would wake up tomorrow to a new day.

"... His lungs have been repaired to normal standard. The True ribs and False ribs that make up his rib-cage have been re-structured to my satisfaction as well. All we've got to do to finish up this operation is implant one new True rib. I only need one medic for this."

Hinata offered to do it straight away; however Tsunade shrugged her off and told her to go home, and clarified that her shift had been completed for the day.

It was already nearly four o'clock in the afternoon.

When Hinata returned to the Hyuuga compound, she found Hanabi waiting for her. Her sister sat supremely on the steps leading to their house, her expression a set majestic straight line.

She was blocking Hinata's way in.

"H-Hanabi?"

"We're due for another fight, sister." Hanabi stated conclusively.

Hinata sighed. Her sister seemed immune to convenience and good-timing.

"No, Hanabi. I-I've only just returned from my shift." Hinata grounded out carefully. Her sister shifted sharply on the stairs.

"Oh? Well that shouldn't matter. You look alert enough to defend yourself at least."

"No." Hinata said earnestly and shook her head. "A-Another time."

"Hn. If you don't want to fight me then keep me company. We'll talk, understood? I have something to ask you."

When the off chance came that their father had other things to commit to than have Hanabi at his side, Hinata usually came to the rescue, and in a sense became the replacement source of entertainment for her sister, almost like a mother.

Hanabi moved closer and pierced Hinata with a pensive stare.

"I've been watching you, Hinata, these past two weeks. You don't linger in the Hyuuga compound for any longer than necessary. Your trips to the library increase each visit. You are quieter than usual—talking less to your friends, although not less enough for them to notice that something's distracting you—but you won't slip past me. _What have you done_?" Hanabi asked.

The last words had been said with such cold intensity that it was all Hinata could do to not stammer.

"I can't tell you." Hinata replied.

Hanabi raised an amused eyebrow.

"Why is that?" She asked coyly. "Why can't you tell me, your own sister? Is it about a boy?"

"Y-N-No!" Hinata exclaimed, embarrassed and desperate. Her sister would definitely be getting her entertainment out of this. Lamentably, if Hanabi decided that it was worthy to investigate why Hinata _was_ so distracted these days, it could pose as a problem. Hanabi could not find out anything about Sasuke or the Seals, whether Hinata wanted her to or not.

Defensively, Hinata's hand curled around her arm where the Seal sat endorsed and hidden underneath the material of her sleeve. She couldn't risk being near the Hyuuga's in case they saw it with their Byakugan. That is why she limited her time in the compound whenever possible. The Hyuuga's didn't usually have their kekkei genkai activated much while in the compound, but she still had to keep up the precaution.

"... Ano..."

"It's now or never, Hinata. Just tell me," Hanabi ordered with a snide smirk. "why I'm saying it's now or never is because I will find out, and by then you will have suffered more than it'd been worth hiding from me."

"I-It is worth it." Hinata contradicted, rather more stonily than she'd intended.

Hanabi's eyes flashed cynically like fire for a moment and she smirked. "He must be exceptionally admirable then..." Hanabi dawdled.

She would never know how wrong she was. Sasuke—_exceptionally_ admirable? At least not over her father's or grandfather's or great grandfather's will.

Hanabi's serious mood returned. Hinata prepared for more threats and mind games intended to make her feel paranoid and edgy as she watched her sister's white yet dark eyes turn to slits.

"Except I know there's more to it that just that. I am going to find out. Hinata, be prepared."

With that Hanabi flipped down the steps and streaked off out of sight.

XXX

Hinata did not know that would be her last talk with her sister for a long time.

She could no longer stay in the Hyuuga compound with the knowledge that her moves were being monitored, so bearing a drag to her stride due to the tiring shift at the hospital, Hinata ventured into the forests.

She stopped. Canopies of trees flitted past her as their branches and leaves floated ominously around the air. The air tasted her greedily as it slithered through the foliage of trees past her.

Hinata had wandered into the clearing where she had encountered Sasuke and the Shinigami for the first time. The moment Hinata realised this, she decided not stay there—it was like the Shinigami had left a permanent marking of his presence—the wind felt too unorthodox. It seemed like it had the potential to choke her.

Hinata continued moving until she reached the waterfall where she and Sasuke had first re-met the day after encountering the Shinigami. She stood by the rock where Sasuke had sat and slid down onto it hesitantly.

Hinata's gaze fell onto her reflection in the sparkling water of the waterfall. She surveyed herself silently.

Hinata had not seen Sasuke since the festival.

She continued to stare down into the sparkling water of the waterfall, too distracted to notice the figure advancing towards her in the trees, until her reflection in the water had changed dramatically.

Now a kunai hovered at her throat, and the shadowy silhouette of a person emerged behind her.

Hinata froze.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to kill you." Came a casual voice. The person stood too far out of light for Hinata to make out his facial features.

She narrowed her eyes. "Substitution jutsu!" She exclaimed.

Hinata disappeared before his eyes and consequently reappeared behind him.

"Well planned," He noted, not seeming remotely threatened at all. "are you going to make this a good fight then?" He asked.

He turned around suddenly and with efficient speed, went to grab Hinata's arm. She managed to dodge his hand in time and switched to an offensive stance.

"Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!"

He managed to dodge or bat away every fist Hinata fired at him. Her speed increased in vain but he wouldn't allow her to get a single fist through. Hinata changed tactic and alternated her stance.

"Gentle Fist!"

"Ah, Gentle fist," He observed, sliding past Hinata's fist with ease as if he had done this many times before and grabbing her elbow. "a very feared technique of the Hyuuga's. Even the slightest tap can cause severe internal damage, hence the name "gentle" fist. I was lucky to be well informed before this fight." He said. His hand slid around her neck and Hinata felt the metal of a kunai delving into her throat.

"Who are you?" She gasped, forgetting to stammer. Did he want to take her Byakugan?

He ignored her.

"You recognised me the moment you saw me. I knew the look you had in your eyes. You thought it was just in your imagination or you were seeing things."

Hinata stiffened in his grip.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about!" Hinata gasped.

He made no move to release her. His breath filtered down the back of her neck.

"Think back three years ago, at the Chunin exams. I healed you." He said.

Hinata froze.

"K-Kabuto?"

She had found out the following day that he had been part of an operation set up by Orochimaru to invade the Leaf village. He was his spy.

Hinata's stomach filled sickeningly with dread and if possible her eyes diluted.

He was here to take her. Sasuke had warned her about this!

With fierce determination, Hinata pulled out a kunai with her free hand and slashed it at his torso. Before the blade could get anywhere near him, he released her and stood back.

Hinata swerved around to face him, her palm held out calmly. She would not let her weeks of training go to waste now that she needed it.

He looked just as she remembered him three years prior, except instead of having a kind, caring glint in his eye, it shone coldly with brutality and no remorse.

"Byakugan!"

Hinata only remembered fighting Kabuto with all her strength. When she should have given up and backed down, she didn't.

"I'm impressed." Kabuto said, toying with the rim of his glasses absently as Hinata panted vigorously. He had not even broken a sweat. All his movements had purpose.

He had brought Hinata down to her kneels and rendered her legs completely useless. He had used a jutsu which had confused all the nerves in her legs, rendering them impossible to control on their own. Hinata could see no way out of this fight, but still she continued pushing.

Using her hands she shifted through some hand seals. Her hands suddenly glowed blue with chakra and the chakra disappeared into the palm of her hands.

"If you come near me you will be paralysed." Hinata warned. She needed to keep up her defence. It was only a matter of time that someone would notice the absence of her presence and go after her.

She had an idea.

As Kabuto advanced, Hinata dragged herself with her hands closer to the waterfall. She could use water to fight for her.

Hinata stopped when the bank of the waterfall met her hands. Kabuto had not yet suspected what she planned to do. Clearly it looked like something else to his eyes.

"You want to kill yourself? What an honourable thing to do instead of giving yourself in to the captor. But I'm afraid I need you alive." He said.

Hinata hurried. Using the chakra control granted by her Gentle Fist, Hinata condensed the nearby water from the waterfall and shaped it into needles to launch at her target.

"Water Needle no jutsu!"

Kabuto had not expected it. He froze in temporary shock as a needle slid past his cheek and opened a cut.

His eyes darkened and he disappeared from sight before any more could so much as touch him.

The next moment Hinata felt a change in the wind behind her and without any time to react a fist came pummelling into her spine, knocking all the breath out of her lungs and sending her forwards. She was unable to move her arms to break the fall and hit the ground with a loud _thud_.

"Play time is over. You're going to be taken to our base."

Kabuto's voice was all but a mass of vibrations ringing at Hinata's ears. She tried to keep the sharp intake of breaths coming, as she felt all the feeling begin to leave her body. Her eyes were slowly losing a hopeless battle to stay open.

She blacked out.

XXX

Hinata woke up feeling disoriented with a distant banging echoing in her head. She ignored it and forced herself to look around.

She was lying on the stony floor of a room. It was deserted apart from her and maybe a few nocturnal creatures hiding in the cracks in the walls. Torches hung on either side of her to provide a dim, glossy light.

Behind Hinata there was a bed. It had musty bed sheets covered in age old dust. The only other inanimate object in the room was a table in the far corner. It had test tubes, beakers, bottles of unknown chemicals, samples and other lavatory devices scattered across it.

Hinata's head still harboured a distant banging so she found it hard to make sense of where she was or why she was there.

She rubbed her eyes and stared at the walls blankly.

The door creaked open. Hinata turned and watched it wearily.

"Ah, good. You're awake." Came a voice. A person stepped into view.

Hinata gasped in alarm. It was Kabuto. Now she remembered. The fight... then being captured despite her efforts...

Hinata pulled herself off the ground and automatically held out her palm in defence. She knew it was futile. She was already their captive.

Plus, her spine had not yet recovered from Kabuto's attack. In seconds Hinata sank back to the ground.

"Don't take your steps too big. The best way to recover is by resting." He chided softly, coming forward into her room fully.

Hinata pushed back the horrible feeling that was settling in her stomach.

Kabuto didn't seem to notice her discomfort. Her came closer and pierced her with his unrelenting stare.

"I think you know why you're here. Orochimaru just wanted to be sure he had you in his possession so that things could be ready—or more like he wanted to make sure he could have your wish under his watch until your reason for being here is fulfilled. What if someone else got you before he did, like the Akatsuki? He had to take this precaution, it was for the best." Kabuto concluded, adjusting his glasses absently. He didn't seem to care at all.

In a few weeks, _they would try to get her wish_. Hinata's worst nightmare was slowly becoming real. How would she get out of this?

Kabuto continued carelessly. "... For the time being we'll put you to use as you're here. You will mostly be kept in this room—your _new_ room, but if I am in need of your assistance—let's say, to help assist with a medical situation, as I already know that you're a training medic, or I need someone to prepare antidotes for me, then you will be called out to help."

Hinata said nothing. She curled and uncurled her bottom lip, undecided on what to say next. Finally, she chanced asking.

"I-Is Sasuke here?"

"No."

"Oh."

"He is at another base, doing something for Orochimaru," Kabuto paused and deliberated holding something back from her. He quickly studied Hinata silently before finally deciding to continue. "he is due to return in one or two days."

Hinata nodded earnestly.

Kabuto smirked at her craftily.

"I'm sure it'll be a nice surprise for him to see you."

With that said, he closed the door behind him and left. Hinata listened until his soft, clipped footsteps faded into the distance and a hand ran through messy indigo hair.

Her only hope was Sasuke.

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**A/N: **ACKNOWLEDGMENTS GO TO: **Saki-Hime**, **ultima-owner**, **YamiHinata** and **Rosebunse**! Thank you, THANK YOU for your reviews! =)

**Oi! Yes you! Review... pwease?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Wish For Something**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) and my OCs belong to me, but anything Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Don't plagiarise, it's not cool.

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**CHAPTER FIVE**

**Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

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Set up in front of Hinata were dead things suspended in bottles of chemicals, crushed and minced herbs, samples of actual poisons, razor-sharp knives, the injection-needles that the medicine would need to be transferred into and murderous-looking lancets.

"You are going to prepare antidotes for me. Try to make as many as you can, if time prevails. Later on I will send someone to demonstrate how to prepare _advanced_ antidotes, rather than just these basic ones. Don't worry, you'll become pro at it with time. I've got to go now," Kabuto said smugly. He turned to leave her room and shut the door firmly behind him.

Fifteen minutes previously, Hinata had woken up from the floor groggily realising that she must have fainted when Kabuto had left her room the night before. Kabuto walked in on her seconds later and found amusement in her odd position on the floor, yet her dilemma hadn't affected him as he had shown by uncharitably setting up the apparatus that Hinata would need for the work he then mercilessly demonstrated to her, that he could care less.

When Kabuto's footsteps finally ceased, signalling that he had left, Hinata got to work immediately—and now she must have made at least thirty of the antidotes.

Hinata turned away from her medicine-covered work table, no longer able to bring herself to make any more. What would they be used for? These mediums were extremely complex for basic antidotes.

Maybe Hinata should have contradicted Kabuto and told him that she would rather sit in her room all day than make these antidotes or take part in aiding any of Orochimaru's evil plans.

Except defying them would do no use. Hinata speculated that Orochimaru was using her for these unimportant tasks to make her existence in his base more worthwhile before finally taking—or attempting to take—her wish, and ending her.

When would Orochimaru decide to initiate taking her wish? That very day? In one week? How long would she be of use to them, until they decided that it was time to stop toying around?

If Hinata proved to be a difficult prisoner, she would simply be signing herself off to her own deathbed. She needed to keep herself alive—for however long they _intended_ to keep her alive—because there was still hope, in the form of Sasuke and her village.

But would the Leaf's search squads be able to find Hinata in time? Even Kakashi, knowing vaguely where to look first, might not be able to save her. How long would it take him to locate this barren base in the middle of nowhere?

Hinata washed her hands in the interior bathroom and came out to find someone standing in the middle of her room. She breathed in sharply.

It was a lady dressed in dirty white clothes. Her face had an irrevocable hopeless, _deadness_ etched in every crease. Much unlike the medics at Konoha, her voice was not warm or welcoming when she spoke, but monotonous and dispassionate.

When had she come in Hinata's room and how had she done so without quirking Hinata's attention?

"I am here to show you how to make complex antidotes." She explained joylessly. "Kabuto told me that he already alerted you of this."

Hinata forced herself to nod.

"Yes."

The medic dropped the new test tubes that she had been holding in her arms—filled with unknown bubbling substances—onto an unoccupied patch of space on Hinata's work table, without giving any outward expression whatsoever.

She picked up one of the bubbling substances, a purple one, and lifted it up to show Hinata.

"Antidotes, _gedokuyaku_ are types of medicines that act as a cure for various poisons. They can be administered to an infected person through several mediums. Some poisons are complex, and therefore creating the antidote will require careful attention or else it could potentially kill the victim."

She handed the purple chemical to Hinata, collected up the antidotes that Hinata had already make with the same dead, unfeeling, expression on her face, and examined them.

Did she know what they would be used for?

Hinata chanced asking.

"W-What are these antidotes needed for?"

The lady froze. She dropped the antidotes back on the table and looked up at Hinata blankly.

"Medical practices." She said.

Hinata pushed delicately, even though she knew deep down that she didn't want to know.

"W-What medical practices?"

The lady closed her eyes.

"Experiments." She said. "Aimed to make people immune to certain poisons. They're exposed to small, healthy amounts of the poison at a time, and with due course their body should build up antibodies against it. But if so should not happen and the vi—patient is dying, then they will be given the antidote. Do not ask any more."

Hinata didn't object. She remained completely silent throughout the whole process as the lady showed her how to prepare the complex antidotes.

"When making high-medium antidotes, not even a hairline mistake can be tolerated or else it won't work. However, specially-trained genius medical ninja can analyse and decipher the many different elements used in complex poisons and easily create a cure. You will only need to copy the example that I have made here for you. Use herbs A, C and H."

She thrust Hinata the poison sample that she would need, and turned to leave, like she was in a rush.

"W-Wait—um—what's your name?" Hinata asked, grasping onto the first thing that came to mind.

Clearly this medic had valuable skills which contributed as a great asset to Orochimaru's experimental plans, but she had imaginably been forced to work for him under no will of her own. What if she wanted to leave the base just as much as Hinata wanted to, or more?

For some reason this made Hinata feel even more doubtful about her own success. The lady seemed completely drained of hope. How long had she been kept in the base? What chance did this leave Hinata, much less, of being rescued, if at _all_?

"Ai." The lady responded. "My name is Ai."

She turned to the door and spoke one last time in a level voice. Hinata watched the back of her head in surprise.

"You are not like the usual filthy criminals that get captured and imprisoned in here. So I think that I should warn you that this place is not ideal for making comrades. It was not build for stupid things like happiness. We're here to help Lord Orochimaru... to fulfill his desires."

Hinata caught on the pain tingeing her voice. Hinata looked down at her hands and meekly fiddled with her fingers.

"Um... o-one last question. Where's your family and friends?" Hinata pried quietly.

Was this lady, Ai, completely alone? Had her family all already died—or had they moved on after she'd been imprisoned in the base?

"Ah, yes." Ai whispered. "My village. I'm from the Leaf."

Hinata froze. Painfully, she made the decision not to tell Ai that she was also from the Leaf village.

Ai continued to speak obliviously, her eyes lowered to the ground. "...five years ago, I was returning to my village from a solo mission when I noticed shadows and voices discussing something in the same forest that I was travelling through. I went to investigate what was going on and they caught me off guard. I-I..." Ai started stammering.

She sighed and put down the box of Hinata's finished antidotes on the ground. She looked up at Hinata with a tenacious expression on her face.

"I struggled and held out until my fiancé found us but they killed him in seconds. Some of my comrades came out to help but they only achieved having the same fate as Sanji. I got taken away and put to use in this base. I don't know if they'd been targeting me from the start, but..."

Ai's resolve started to melt and Hinata had to catch her before she collapsed onto the ground. She started sobbing in Hinata's arms.

"P-Ple—"

"It's not fair!" Ai beat the ground viciously, emphasising each word with a violent fist.

Hinata didn't know what to do but she did not let go of Ai.

"I'm dead, the village has moved on without me, they've forgotten me. It's been five years." Ai said shallowly.

_They think she's already dead._ Hinata realised in shock.

Ai let go of Hinata.

"Thank you." She said in a resolute voice, looking at Hinata with warm, swollen eyes before leaving the room without wasting another moment, leaving behind the box of finished antidotes that Hinata had made.

Hinata did not see Ai again.

XXX

Weeks seemed to pass in solace. Hinata kept to a robotic routine which involved making antidotes everyday with Ai's example, sleeping, eating, washing and studying the gaps in the floor tiles which could potentially expose an escape tunnel.

Sasuke had still not returned. At first Hinata just assumed that Sasuke's mission had been delayed for a couple of days or he'd met a casualty that required long-term attention, or that he'd even been called out for another mission.

Then Hinata started to wonder if Sasuke had somehow learnt of her imprisonment in the base and had decided to allow Orochimaru to kill her while he attempted to extract her wish. It would make things a lot easier for him. He wouldn't have to worry about protecting a supposedly weak soul who couldn't even handle the responsibility of her own wish.

Then Hinata had started to _worry_. What if Kabuto had been lying all along and they'd already killed Sasuke and taken _his_ wish and—

A shiver ran down Hinata's spine and she decided to drop the topic. She recalled the previous night or so when she had mustered up the courage to address the issue of Sasuke's absence to Kabuto and tried to seek _some_ comfort in that.

_Flashback_

A shadow appeared at her door. Hinata held her breath and waited for the person to announce themself.

"Can I come in?"

It was Kabuto.

"Y-Yes." Hinata stammered loud enough for him to hear. She got up from her bed and stood to the side shyly, beside a wooden bench-top which Kabuto had so generously added to her room a few days back.

She still did not trust him.

Kabuto unlocked the door, stepped inside and shut it behind him. He folded his arms and surveyed Hinata silently.

"So, I'm here for your check-up. Not planning to escape, are you?" He asked her derisively, his glasses glinting in the torch light.

Hinata shook her head and mustered up the courage to finally address the issue of Sasuke's absence to Kabuto.

"Where is Sasuke?" Hinata said politely.

Kabuto adjusted his glasses on the rim of his nose and let out a smirk.

"Like I told you, he was _due_ to arrive in one or two days."

Hinata lowered her eyes to the ground and bit her lip.

"Ano, but..."

"He can turn up at any time he wants, I and Orochimaru have no power over that. And this time it looks like Sasuke's winging it quite a bit," Kabuto remarked shrewdly, and even he started to frown. "anyway, it's no matter. We'll have him back to check his progress when we need him. Why, are you desperate to share a mutual understanding with someone who used to be from your village?"

_End of flashback_

Hinata sighed, remembering that the encounter had been extremely awkward, especially for her to have mustered the courage to ask Kabuto in the first place. Yet it seemed to be what Kabuto had expected her to do—what he had been _waiting_ for her to do, so to speak. He _knew_ that she would eventually come to him to seek some answers.

Hinata trailed her finger along the cracked floor tiles, activated Byakugan, and swore to herself that she would start planning an escape if Sasuke didn't return to the base in three days. Hinata furrowed her eyebrows and deactivated Byakugan.

_It's no use. I can't see anything beyond endless miles of compressed earth and metal. If I want an escape tunnel, I'll have to make one of my own. There's none to be found underneath this base._

Hinata slipped into her bed and lay still, relaxing and allowing her thoughts to drift as she stared at the unyielding eroded walls of her room. Sasuke, Naruto... Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba, Naruto, Shino, Hanabi, Sasuke. Did they miss her?

Hours seemed to pass, although Hinata knew it could've only been a few minutes. The sun was setting radiantly outside, signaling that it was almost evening. Hinata contemplated having a wash, but she decided to lay there for a few moments longer to daydream first.

_Open, open you little wretched door!_

Hinata shot up unexpectedly.

The door to her room rattled as someone wrestled with the keys, trying to get them into the key hole outside. The door eventually lurched forward and a stout man stood panting at Hinata's doorway, his thin, mousy brown hair shuddering on end as he gasped for air. Hinata jumped forward immediately.

"W-What's wrong—are you alright?"

He shook his head, cursing.

"No... No time to explain! Come!"

Hinata hesitated as he trotted out into the hallway. She had never set foot outside of her room before, but this was not the time. Hinata braced herself for what was about to happen.

She followed the man through the first of a series of dimly-lit corridors.

"Lord Orochimaru himself has summoned for your presence. Got to take you to him!" He croaked between sprints along foreign corridors and past impoverished walls. Hinata nodded even though he couldn't see it. Trying not to let this news deter her, Hinata kept up the pace, determined.

She had been in his base for two weeks and neither she or Orochimaru had seen the other. It was finally time. A shiver ran down Hinata's spine, leaving her body tingling in repulse. She tried not think of what this could mean.

They stopped at a door and Hinata found herself being dragged into one of the most dimly lit rooms in the entire base. Hinata froze.

Two obsidian eyes met her wide-eyed gaze and glared at her.

"I have brought you the girl you summoned for, L-Lord Orochimaru." The stout man stammered nervously in a high-pitched voice beside her, and bowed. He pushed Hinata forward briefly and Hinata tried not to take notice of the terrified hysteria which was his breathing.

"You can leave now, thank you. Your job has been served, Yoshiharu." Orochimaru said quietly. Hinata watched the stout man lumber out of the room as fast as humanely possible then turned to look up fearfully.

"Why is she here?" Came the irritated yet sedate voice of Sasuke.

"Oh, Sasuke, you've been a naughty boy." Orochimaru purred calmly. Hinata trembled, noticing the reptilian ex-Sanin sitting in the shadows of the room, staring at her curiously like he was observing a test subject that he was about to dissect. Or a ticking time bomb that he was waiting to snap.

"When did you attain your wishes, I wonder?"

"I-I..." Hinata began, but at Sasuke's intense glare she stopped herself.

"I'll answer you when you answer me. When did the Hyuuga girl get here?" Sasuke asked coldly, not being one bit difficult. See the sarcasm?

"She has been at this base for two weeks and three days. Why don't you ask her yourself?" Orochimaru replied softly.

Sasuke's onyx eyes turned to Hinata and pinned her with an intense narrow-eyed glare. "Is this true?"

"Y... Yes." Hinata stammered. She looked down at her feet and made the mistake of reaching out to grip the part of her arm where the Seal sat endorsed under her sleeve.

Orochimaru's hallow eyes flashed.

"_Now_ it's time for you to answer my question, Sasuke. I am feeling on some degree, hunger." He hissed quietly.

"I can't remember." Sasuke said, closing his eyes. Hinata noticed that the Uchiha avenger had not bothered to mask his amusement. "It was a while ago. If you want a precise date, I can't give you one."

"_Is_ that _so_, Sssasuke?" Orochimaru hissed. "Hm, if you thought that I wouldn't find out that it was you and this Hyuuga who had the first two wishes, then you have underestimated me greatly." Orochimaru chuckled and lifted up a pale hand to flick back his long dark hair.

"The scent of your wish in this base had been intoxicating, Sasuke. I couldn't ignore it for any longer. So had yours, Hinata; a distant cord prying and whispering to me from miles away, I just couldn't resist it."

"What do you _mean_, you know that me and Hinata have the first two wishes?" Sasuke snapped rudely. "there's a third wish and a third owner. Are you saying that you have no clue who that is and can't just go and harass them instead?"

Orochimaru's next words shocked both Hinata and Sasuke, and set them into a stunned silence.

"Precisely. I have no idea who it is. They have masked themselves very well with a high-level concealment jutsu."

_They must be top notch, whoever they are. Hn. Interesting. _Sasuke mused inwardly.

"... Which brings me to why I have summoned you." Orochimaru said coyly.

Suddenly the atmosphere in the room changed. Hinata's throat constricted. Her eyes widened on no accord of their own. She was staring into the face of a hungry snake. A murderous snake. Hinata tried to move but she was paralysed, it was going to strike, it was going to k—

Hinata felt a hand grab her arm sharply and turn her to face a blank, impoverished wall.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sasuke demanded angrily, easing his hold on Hinata's arm and letting go of her. Hinata stayed rooted to the spot, hyperventilating in shock.

"I've just shown her what she will soon be facing in a few weeks. She's got to die in order for me to acclaim her wish. As will you." Orochimaru said.

Hinata's body trembled like a leaf caught in a gust of wind. Her head spun dizzily, disoriented. What had just... happened?

Orochimaru lowered his serpentine eyes to slits dangerously.

"You're now both here, so let's get started properly." Orochimaru licked his lips hungrily. Then he turned his gaze to Sasuke, bearing a light fondness.

"When I take over your body and use it as my future vessel, I will adopt the wish you that are so generously looking after for me right now, Sasuke."

Hinata saw Sasuke stiffen and scowl. She didn't look up at Orochimaru, still too petrified to chance seeing death again but she could tell that he was looking at her now. The weight of his gaze...

"Sadly, do not have enough information to confidently know that the theory I have of extracting a Shinigami's wish from a human will definitely give me the positive results that I want. The wish could just go down with you, Hyuuga Hinata. However I am willing to take the risk. Unlike Sasuke, I cannot just simply absorb you as a vessel and gain access to it from there."

Hinata listened on to Orochimaru's soft voice, barely able to comprehend what he was saying now.

"... In fact, there is a below fifteen percent estimated chance of success. I _would_ begin the experiment right now, but I need time to prepare. Instead I think I will have to commence your operation in no sooner than one months' time. What a shame. You will be going before Sssasuke. Until then, continue to serve me and good should come your way."

XXX

Hinata uncapped the antidote and carefully injected it into the sweating patient's arm. He stopped gasping for air immediately and Hinata withdrew in relief. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and quickly started taking down notes.

"Good work." Kabuto commented. "You're really getting the hang of working with the test subjects. I'm glad I didn't limit you to just making antidotes for me all day. It would've been a waste of potential." He sighed and reached forward to claim the empty injection needle from Hinata.

"Maybe some time this week I'll let you help me with an operation. Keep up the good work."

Hinata nodded.

"H-He's still not quite stablaised yet. Do you want me to continue treating him? I can keep him soothed for a bit longer so that he won't feel any pain." Hinata said, looking down sadly into the young man's scarred face.

Hinata wanted to use Muishiki on him. He would be in a state of terrible pain in a few minutes as his body completely freed itself of the poison.

"No. I've got another task for you. Maybe you'll like this one more."

Hinata looked up at Kabuto questioningly, wearily. What was he getting at?

It had been two days since the incident with Orochimaru. Ironically, Hinata had not seen Sasuke since then, despite the fact that he was back in the base. She could definitely feel his anger radiating in thick waves through the air whenever she switched wards or returned to her room. Sometimes Hinata thought that she saw his shadow stalk past her room door at nights as he made his way somewhere.

"Have a lunch break first." Kabuto instructed, betraying nothing in his expression as he produced a plate of food and handed it to Hinata. Hinata did as Kabuto instructed, all the while dreading what Kabuto would request of her afterward.

Hinata watched Kabuto scribble something down onto his clipboard then look up.

"I want you to give Sasuke a full-body checkup." Kabuto said nonchalantly. "I'm concerned that he didn't return from his mission two days ago completely unscathed as he claims. He's denied all help from our medics but for some reason I have a feeling that he'll be different towards you, Hinata."

Hinata remained silent. She looked up and nodded her head bravely.

"A-Alright, yes. I'll do it." Hinata said, although she doubted that her attempt would be any different from the others.

Kabuto smiled—or came as close to smiling as he could—and adjusted his glasses.

"I'll lead you to Sasuke now."

They walked in silence until they reached a door where lightening illuminated its frame and threatened to go on a rampage.

_Thrash, sizzle, thrash._

Kabuto knocked twice, only to be ignored. The sound of panting, lightening hissing and straw getting burnt continued.

"Sasuke, open up now! I will not tolerate being ignored."

Finally, the commotion inside the room stopped. Kabuto pushed the door open and stepped inside, followed by Hinata.

The Hyuuga heiress's breath caught in her throat.

Sasuke stood shirtless, sweat gleaming against his skin, in the middle of the room. He glared at them agitatedly as he sheathed his katana which gave off one last protesting hiss of lightening.

"What?"

"Hinata has come to give you a medical checkup." Kabuto said sternly, frowning at the mess and destruction that Sasuke had inflicted upon the room. "And next time could you think about controlling your impulse to destroy _everything_ while you train? We don't have to cater to everything that you wreck, Uchiha. Much unlike some of the other people in this base, you are fortunate enough to have a good grasp on sanity, or so I should think."

Sasuke smirked jauntily.

"Tch. Whatever, Kabuto." Sasuke said plainly. He turned to Hinata. He looked at her for a moment, making Hinata's heart accelerate and constrict.

She never got looked at by the opposite sex intently like that. It was foreign to her.

Hinata nearly jumped when Sasuke spoke.

"How long will this take?"

Hinata blinked back her surprise and forced herself to respond.

"N-No longer than fifteen minutes!" She squeaked.

Sasuke's gaze slid past her and landed on Kabuto. He raised an eyebrow.

"Well? I don't need a bodyguard hanging around me. You can go."

Kabuto raised his eyebrow but made no move to make a retort and left, leaving Hinata and Sasuke alone.

When Hinata turned back around, she gasped unexpectedly, because Sasuke now stood in front of her. Barely meters from her. _How_ fast _was_ _he_?

"We've got a lot to discuss." Sasuke said sedately. He ran a hand through soft, spiked raven-black hair and as Hinata watched him, she finally realised—of course, why else?—that the only reason why Sasuke had accepted to have the checkup, was so that he could get the chance to speak to her.

"W-What about the checkup?" Hinata tried.

Sasuke's glare intensified.

"Forget about that." He said dismissively. "It's not important, or why I'm benefiting from you being here. We're not going to get killed by Orochimaru."

This news did uplift her, however—

"Ano... but..." Hinata said. "Kabuto will expect me to give back a full a-analysis of the checkup. I-I can't make it up." Hinata said ashamedly, looking down at the scorched floor.

"Hn." Sasuke scoffed. He noticed that his lack of attire seemed to discomfort her, so he shrugged on his short-sleeved greyish top with the Uchiha crest on the back and looked at Hinata expectantly.

"Do it. Be quick,"

Hinata's eyes widened in disbelief for a moment and she quickly shook her head.

"Alright, thank you." Hinata murmured. Now she needed to be professional.

Hinata pressed her hand against Sasuke's chest. He stood completely still, not seeming to be affected by the intimate contact. Either he was already used to it or he felt no mutual attraction to her.

He was looking at her face with an unreadable expression. Hinata tried to take no notice of it and focused on detecting anything wrong—any broken tissues, bones, ligaments, sprains—with her chakra and Byakugan.

Luckily, the thing with a full-body checkup was that if you had good chakra control it could be initiated from just one point of the body and spread from there through the archeries of the chakra system instead of needing to roam every part of the person's body with her hands. It saved time and embarrassment.

Fifteen minutes passed. Sasuke still stared at Hinata, with a piecing gaze so intense that it would have made any girl faint. Hinata finally withdrew her hand, deactivated Byakugan and unfurrowed her eyebrows.

Just as Hinata opened her mouth to say that the checkup had been successful, she found herself caught in Sasuke's fixated onyx gaze and faltered. Five more minutes seemed to pass in silence as they stared at each other—Hinata mainly like a trapped bird.

Sasuke had been watching Hinata throughout the whole checkup process. At first he had done so to keep himself amused, then he had started to focus on the foreign chakra entering his body. It worked gently and delicately, but served its purpose with talent. Hinata's supposed useless presence in the room had cleared Sasuke's head, making him take notice of small things rather than addressing the pent up anger rampaging in his soul.

What was so special about her? She was shy, quiet and delicate.

_People like that shouldn't be ninja_. Sasuke thought, but it was apparent that Hinata seemed to possess that characteristic, much like dobe, of proving people wrong about her potential. Sasuke would just have to wait and see.

When she had finally turned and met his gaze, Sasuke didn't let her escape. He pinned her down and searched her bewildered eyes. There it was. Something interesting.

Sasuke smirked and turned away.

"I've got a plan,"

.

.

.

.

.

**A/N: **ACKNOWLEDGMENTS GO TO: **kawaiiyagi**, **redressed**, **Encuentrame**, **ultima-owner**, **Saki-Hime**, **suicune4ever**, **Rosebunse**, **YamiHinata**, **Guest** and **DageRee**! Wow, I was not expecting so many reviews! THANKYOUUUUUUU!

**My oh my, what a lovely rhyme, la la la... review time! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Wish For Something**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) and my OCs belong to me, but anything Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Don't plagiarise, it's not cool.

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX**

**Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

* * *

"I've got a plan,"

Hinata used the moment that Sasuke lapsed into a mysterious silence and turned to face the other way as an invitation to recover from his recent interrogating gaze.

His eyes held such intensity... it was like being put in front of a million harsh lights. Hinata could only anticipate what the Uchiha planned.

Sasuke turned back.

"I am going to finish off the snake before he can lay a finger on you. But in case Orochimaru finds a way of evading death, we need to change each other's emotional districts quickly and use up the two wishes so that all possibilities of Orochimaru getting our wishes are cancelled out. We can't afford to take any chances."

"I understand." Hinata said. She knew the feeling that now dominated her stomach as she looked down. _Doubt_.

"Sasuke, what i-if Orochimaru suddenly brought forward the date of the experiment and we're not re—"

"Shut up," Sasuke said abruptly.

Hinata faltered. She reminded herself that Sasuke was a criminal and no longer the same genin that he had once been. However, she had never been spoken to so rudely in her life. Hinata's father and selected clan members had made a point of making sure that Hinata didn't get exposed to bad company—like nightlife in the Leaf village where gangs rebelled. Hinata would just have to get used to Sasuke's... way of _expressing_ things.

Suddenly, it hit Hinata.

"No," She retorted. Firmly. Recklessly. "you are wrong to think that behaving like that will help us to a-acquire the wishes!"

How were they supposed to have any hope of changing each other emotionally in a few weeks' time if they didn't—if _Hinata_ didn't—take responsibility? Sasuke would be a hard person to change. Hinata could see it without Byakugan. His soul was twisted, dark, pent up in anger and lost... he didn't even seem to care about the way he hurt others.

Sasuke cocked his head to the side and perceived Hinata for a moment. It was obvious that she was not cut out to be brutal. However her unexpected response to his sheer boldness may have reminded a certain part of Sasuke's subconscious that Hinata had part of the dobe's personality of being _unpredictable_.

_Only in an accidental way. _Sasuke resolved, folding his arms over stubbornly. What Sasuke didn't know was that Hinata's determination sometimes clashed with her shyness, and valued dominant over it. Hinata more than often couldn't control herself when these extraordinary moments happened.

"Why the sudden change of character?" Sasuke challenged.

"B—Because I am going to change you before you change me!" Hinata exclaimed before she could stop herself. If it had been fate which had brought her into the same clearing as Sasuke months ago, then she needed to—_Seal situation_ _or not_— make sure that Sasuke didn't slip further into his own darkness. _Naruto..._

It extracted the exact reaction that Hinata unintentionally needed from Sasuke.

"I like your challenge," Sasuke said. He smirked, amused. Arrogant. "Just make sure that you know what you're up against."

Hinata quickly nodded.

Sasuke observed her and carefully contemplated his next intent. He grabbed Hinata's arm, earning an involuntary gasp from her—to which he merely responded with a "tch"—and turned to where he wanted to exit: the door.

"You're coming with me." Sasuke stated.

Hinata didn't know why, but she panicked.

"To where?" She gasped, resisting.

"Don't ask questions." Sasuke muttered. He truly didn't care about his lack of consideration this time. His grip only increased so Hinata stopped her struggling and allowed the Uchiha survivor to lead her to the unknown destination.

Sasuke cruised through countless passageways heedlessly ignoring his surroundings. He seemed immune to the dull, deceased walls that imprisoned them inside the base and the flickering shadows which seemed to follow them everywhere, or the low, ghostly voices emanating in the air.

Hinata held her breath as he led her away from the familiar surroundings that she had gotten used to over the past few days while working around wards; then they arrived at a dead end.

"Release," Sasuke muttered.

He dispelled a genjutsu, and instead of an inauspicious stone wall, Hinata faced a bleak expanse of land. The bitter-cold wind grazed Hinata's face and she nearly jumped in shock, despite the trivialness of the situation. Being kept indoors for weeks seemed to dull her familiarly with the outside world, hence the extra sensitivity.

Hinata felt a sharp tug on her arm and snapped out of her thoughts to meet Sasuke's impatient obsidian eyes. He didn't seem as shocked as she did that the inanimate brick wall they were facing moments ago had just clarified that it was a _genjutsu_.

_I-I wonder how many more genjutsus like this are around the base... I didn't detect any with my Byakugan before..._

As if reading her mind, Sasuke explained. "Byakugan is weaker than Sharingan. I saw numerous genjutsus like this the moment I stepped in here three years ago, disguising tunnels to underground mass burial-pits, breeding grounds for uncontrollable test subjects, emergency pits to cover up illegal evidence, and much more." Sasuke said, smirking jauntily. "Try telling that to the Hyuugas the next time you see them, Hyuuga Hinata."

Amusement. His smirk all but displayed it.

If anything, Hinata now felt naked and venerable. Her kekkei genkai couldn't defend her against Sasuke if he so chose to turn against her... the news sent an uneasy shiver down Hinata's spine.

Sasuke started walking away and since Hinata didn't knowing anything about her bearings, she decided to stay close to him. Anything could happen even _out_ of the base. Sasuke was beginning to become Hinata's source of security... even though she didn't know if she could put her entire trust in him just yet...

Sasuke took a turn and a waterfall came into view. Hinata wouldn't really call it a waterfall. Waterfalls were associated with peace, calm and relaxation. This waterfall sent tremors down Hinata's spine by its mere appearance, like ghouls lurked in its clouds of vapour. How anyone could meditate in its presence didn't seem possible.

Sasuke turned to face Hinata and fixed her with a pressurising gaze. Hinata's heart leapt.

"You know how to get in now; just break the wall's genjutsu. This is normally my haven but I'll let you share. We meet here." Sasuke said.

Hinata nodded, clinging onto her arms shakily, and looked around at the bleak expanse with barely any life to it than the eerie waterfall. She thought she could see patches of grass outlined as dark wispy shadows on the ground.

Sasuke came closer. He looked intense.

"Say the worst thing you can think of to me."

"No, don't be silly!" Hinata spluttered immediately.

"Good one." Sasuke said, nonchalantly crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes. "If you're addressing a moron..."

Hinata blanched. "N-N-No I mean—"

"Don't get flustered, I knew what you meant." Sasuke said coolly, his lips rising attractively.

Hinata didn't trust her mouth to defend her again, and opted to keep it shut for the time being. If Sasuke just planned on teasing her...

"... you clearly don't have it in you to be a bad person. I don't think you'd even hurt a fly. I wonder how I'm going to change that..."

Hinata remained silent and looked at the ground. She tried to decipher if Sasuke was still teasing her or had become serious. His words were up to scale, at least.

"H-How about just my self-esteem?" Hinata finally confided. "I don't need to go around doing bad things to change myself to remove the Seal, Sasuke. It's not in my nature." Hinata said, pleadingly.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, since rolling his eyes would have taken too much effort.

"Or let me change you first, and then you change me?" Hinata trailed off.

Sasuke glared up at the moon emotionlessly for an immeasurable amount of time, and once again, Hinata found herself caught in his conflicting onyx eyes. From her position a few feet away, she joined him to stare at the moon, dissolving into a patient silence, patiently waiting for him to answer.

Sasuke looked back down at her. "There isn't enough time."

Hinata knew this simple statement was true, which only increased the urgency of their situation.

"Although you're right," Sasuke continued, his lips rising into another smirk. "I don't think I could get you to do a single bad thing. But that doesn't mean it'll take me long to change you. The hard work comes to you, on the other hand. You'll need longer to change me."

Sasuke suddenly looked sinister. "I won't make this easy for you. As an Uchiha, I have to put up a fight."

Hinata nodded, slightly evoked by Sasuke's last statement.

_I won't make this easy for you. As an Uchiha, I have to put up a fight._

"Can we leave now?" Hinata delicately asked, shifting uneasily.

Sasuke turned away from the moon and met Hinata's lavender eyes.

"Not "can we" leave, it's "let's leave". You don't need anyone's permission to do what satisfies you." Sasuke corrected. Hinata nodded.

"Let's leave," Hinata said, feeling a wave of childish excitement, anticipation, and unnatural rebelliousness lighting the smallest depths of her stomach. She never gave commands.

"You can feel safe when you're with me, Hyuuga girl."

Where did that come from?—Hinata wondered, giving a small jump and looking up at Sasuke.

The Uchiha was watching her seriously.

"Can I trust you?" Hinata asked gingerly, before she could stop herself, after a long silence. The way Sasuke's intense eyes trapped Hinata made it difficult for her not to tell him what she secretly wanted to know.

This was Hinata's deepest uncertainty. Was Sasuke's heart in this? Would he just decide that killing her would be the best way to get rid of her wish so that Orochimaru couldn't possibly steal it?

Sasuke simply nodded.

"A... Alright." Hinata said awkwardly, thankful. She smiled warmly at the Uchiha survivor.

Sasuke turned away, irritated.

Hinata would be the death of him. What was she _smiling_ at him for? Of course he'd protect her, she obviously wasn't fully capable of it herself; otherwise she wouldn't have gotten captured.

But Sasuke knew that wasn't the true reason for his anger.

She revealed to him a different path to life, right then and there, in that split-moment. All her gestures were soft and calm, and her loving lavender eyes made him think of... peace.

Sasuke scoffed. His stupid _indolence_.

_There's no time for peace in my path to vengeance..._

Tch.

"Let's go."

XXX

The next day Hinata found herself busily giving check-up upon check-up to secondary test subjects. They were the least important subjects aiding Orochimaru's plans, in whatever it was that he was trying to accomplish, apart from extracting Hinata and Sasuke's wishes.

_I wish I could tell them that there's still hope... but I don't know how the Leaf will find me and all these victims here. If they do, it could be too late for them..._

Hinata walked over to the ward's work-table and was about to pick up some antidotes when a clipped voice cut her short.

"Hinata, you're needed." Came Kabuto's nonchalant voice. He leaned lightly against the wall beside the door.

Hinata swerved around and took in his position.

She nodded and put down the antidote, hoping that the medic who would cover for her would finish the job quickly so that the patients wouldn't have to suffer any more pain... or in the likely circumstance, death.

Hinata followed Kabuto out of the ward, noticing the prominent, unsettling silence which hung over them as they walked, and Hinata's heat skipped a beat in complete terror.

_No... it couldn't be... but it's too early..._

"I need you to help me heal a patient," Kabuto said. "he's got a very fatal wound. I wouldn't dare attempt this on my own."

Hinata nearly let out a breath of relief. For a moment she'd believed that Kabuto planned on taking her to Orochimaru... for her wish to be experimentally removed. Hinata often had dreams about that particular topic of matter...

She quickly recomposed herself by nodding, and promptly looked down.

"Hn," Kabuto turned away without giving any outward change at Hinata's distant behaviour.

They continued walking until Kabuto stopped at an unfamiliar ward, and opened the door impassively.

Hinata entered, and slowly took in the new scene.

A person with short crimson hair sat on the edge of a hospital bed, looking completely fine. He even stood up politely when he noticed them. His whole upper-body occupied thousands of Curse Seal tattoos. He didn't seem any more than one or two years older than Hinata.

Hinata furrowed her eyebrows, knowing better than to believe something without full-sight. There did seem to be something wrong with him.

"Byakugan!"

Hinata paled.

The only way that he could be standing like that on his own... had to the sole result of disciplined brute force and will-power.

_The wound is inside him_. _His heart... _Hinata thought, unable to comprehend how anyone could still live with such a fatal wound to the heart.

"Rukon, you know you shouldn't be doing that." Kabuto chided angrily, breaking the silence, in which Rukon had curiously gazed at Hinata. It was like he'd just ruined Kabuto's hard piece of work.

Rukon objectless sat back down, albeit with a resentful scowl.

"Your hearts are still recovering, do you want to re-open them _again_?"

_... Hearts? But I didn't see more than one with my Byakugan?_

Hinata watched in confusion and terror. Though Rukon didn't show any outward remorse, Hinata could tell by the way he silently looked down with emotionless green eyes that he regretted his actions.

Kabuto smirked.

"Your bloodline-limit is exceptional, Rukon. You can hide yourself away from other bloodline-limits, and they wouldn't even know what you were, if they were standing right next to you with all their kekkei genkais activated. They would only be able to see _one_ of your hearts."

Rukon remained silent. Hinata's eyes widened.

"Your kekkei genkai gives you millions of hearts, so that when you're killed, you can still live. Your opponent just has to make sure that they strike every single heart to ensure your death. I found that a very interesting boundary. Not as good as the Sharingan or Byakugan, but a good competitor, I have to say..."

Rukon still didn't speak.

"and that's why Orochimaru wanted you. Your bloodline-limit allows you to be a master of concealment to other bloodline-limits and jutsus... even to forbidden jutsus. No one would've even known if you'd perhaps, been branded by a Shinigami. He thought you might have the third wish. But it seems like you didn't, in the end."

Of all cold chills Hinata had experienced in a room, this one had to be the coldest. Hinata stared at Rukon, feeling cold. What was Kabuto going to do to him now? What would Kabuto want _her_ to do to him?

"What are you going to do to me?" Rukon growled. He glared coldly at Kabuto with murderous green eyes. Not in a fearful way... with dark passion.

"You shouldn't even be alive," Kabuto said. This got Rukon. He paled slightly. "Stop arguing with me. The injuries you sustained from your capture are quite fatal—_three_ hearts gone. And we're going to restore them for you."

"What?" Rukon spat. "Why? I don't even have the wish your Lord wants so much!"

Kabuto shook his head. He smirked shrewdly.

"We're keeping you alive. It seems that Orochimaru has other uses for you. It would be a waste to throw away something as valuable as your kekkei genkai so quickly."

Rukon turned away, disgusted.

"Get it over with. Just be quick,"

Hinata found herself confused at his statement. Rukon seemed like a resistant person. Why would he suddenly given in? Then Hinata realised that Rukon _was_ a resistant person. He must have found a plan to want Kabuto to comply with this.

Rukon caught Hinata's gaze as Kabuto turned away. She looked down, feeling guilty.

In a few minutes time Hinata and Kabuto found themselves with both hands on Rukon's torso. Green chakra flooded into his body, searching for the problem's solution.

"There it is. Focus all your chakra at 7:46."

"Yes." Hinata murmured, creasing her forehead. She would've found it much easier to locate Kabuto's coordinates if her Byakugan wasn't useless against Rukon's kekkei genkai's concealment. If she activated it, only one out of the millions of Rukon's hearts would've appeared. And maybe not even the right one. Now she just had to 'see' with her chakra.

Hinata noticed Rukon slipping out of consciousness.

"Kabuto, a-are we losing him?"

Kabuto shook his head.

"We're not. His body just can't take any more stress—that's why I didn't want him pushing himself too hard earlier by standing. But he's not in the position to die." Kabuto clarified.

Hinata nodded and narrowed her eyes determinedly. She focused her chakra at the point 7:46 of Rukon's heart where his blood vales were critically destroyed. The blood valves prevented blood from flowing backwards, so Hinata had to do the job of the blood valves with her chakra while she healed them at the same time.

Hinata noticed that not only the blood valves were crippled; the thick muscular walls of Rukon's archeries were damaged, meaning that the blood flowing through would be low pressure, instead of high pressure.

Hinata looked up at Kabuto, about to ask him if she should heal those first, when she remembered what Sasuke had told her.

_You don't need anyone's permission to do what satisfies you._

Without hesitating, Hinata switched her hand away from Rukon's torso, slowly towards his chest. She could now get a better, _closer_, angle of his heart.

Hinata thinned her chakra down so that it had a width no bigger than a hair's. The process would be long and risky, but it could be done.

At close contact, Rukon's capillaries made no reaction. Hinata continued traveling her chakra along until it reached the damaged arteries. She kept her chakra fixed at that area. Now it would heal, but to fully restore them to health, Hinata would need to wait at that same area for more than an hour.

Time seemed to fly, but with minimal change. Hinata knew it would be hard to heal Rukon's arteries when she started, but she never imagined that it would be so demanding. Her chakra was already nearly gone.

_I'm getting the feeling that because Rukon's hearts aren't normal, they are more difficult to heal. They require more than normal chakra capacity._

Minutes slowly turned into hours and Hinata continued to persistently gather her chakra at 4:91 of Rukon's arteries.

"Good job," Came a voice close to her ear. Hinata jumped.

Kabuto placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It's nearly midnight. I'm sure you're nearly out of chakra, at this point. I'll be sure to tell Orochimaru of your excellent performance today. Go back to your room and sleep."

Hinata nodded hesitantly, sparing one last glance at Rukon's strained face and hoping...

Could he still have a chance of escape?

XXX

A few days later Hinata found herself standing face to face with Sasuke. Obsidian eyes met lavender eyes.

They had re-met briefly many times over the week, managing to slip in a few hours into their busy schedules of Sasuke's missions and Hinata's operations for the plan of changing each other emotionally, and though Hinata tried, she just couldn't do it. Sasuke remained the same, with a cold, hateful demeanour, many times scoffing rudely or laughing dryly at her attempts to make him behave more... caring.

Sasuke leant more on correcting Hinata's routine displays of modesty for the better. Some minimal improvement came Hinata's way, much to her surprise, since she had never thought she could be commanding, in any way or form.

But her progress didn't matter if Sasuke's wasn't improving. In fact, he seemed much darker than usual. Sometimes Hinata wished that she could be like Naruto. She knew that if he were there, Sasuke would change much easily. Except she wasn't Naruto, she was _Hinata_.

"What are you staring at?" Sasuke asked roughly.

"Sorr—I-I mean, it's my business." Hinata stammered.

Sasuke's frown turned into a jaunty smirk.

Hinata blushed. Her heart had noticeably sped up too. Why _had_ she been looking at the Uchiha avenger longer than necessary?

"Not bad... if you're addressing a moron."

He was teasing her. Again.

Hinata cringed.

"I still don't..."

"Leave that for now. We have work to do on it... plenty." Sasuke added. "For now, let's go small. I need to get rid of your stammer."

Sasuke cocked his head to the side, and stared at Hinata.

She dreaded whenever Sasuke did this. His coal-black eyes felt like they could read her soul.

Hinata fidgeted under his intense gaze, wondering what it was he wanted to know.

"You're tired." Sasuke said. It was a statement. Not a question.

Hinata hesitated before nodding. She uncomfortably pushed hair behind her ear.

"Kabuto doesn't let you rest, does he?"

"No!" Hinata protested quickly.

Since the operation five days ago, Rukon had been kept in a comatic state, and between Hinata's busy schedule, each day, she had spent at least two hours healing him, whether at night, morning, or evening. She had healed Rukon again last night.

Hinata feared that if she didn't put her all in restoring him back to health—much unlike Kabuto, who seemed to not care if they lost him—Rukon would never meet his dreams of one day returning to his village.

The cost of his healing sessions resulted in Hinata going to bed with her all chakra depleted, which made her weak during day.

Sasuke impatiently waited for her response. He didn't look like he would take no for an answer. She had to tell him.

"It's because—"

Before Hinata could finish her sentence, someone's clipped voice cut her short.

"There you are, Hinata."

Kabuto strolled towards them, his glasses glistering in the sun.

Sasuke boldly shoved his katana into the ground, ignoring how it violently burst into lightening thereafter.

"What?" Sasuke growled rudely. "and how the hell did you get in here? It's protected by my genjutsu."

"It's a simple case of following a certain medic as she leaves her room." Kabuto said, amused.

Hinata stilled.

"And I need her..."

Sasuke's eyes flashed,

"An _experiment's_ gone wrong?"

"—a medical operation error, I think you mean?"

"You've not got enough antidotes?"

"The terminology is a simple miscalculation of numbers, if you _must_ know."

"What, you need another _hand_?" Sasuke mocked cruelly.

"—it's most unfortunate to know that I cannot do everything on my own..." Kabuto ended stonily. His eyes were no longer amused.

Sasuke glared, agitated, looking like he truly wanted to go on a rampage and make a bloodbath out of Kabuto. The only thing that kept him from doing those things were Orochimaru and the fact the Hinata stood there.

Sasuke found it very irritating that Kabuto thought he could have power over Hinata like that, and could make her do anything. It angered Sasuke even more that Hinata obliged to his orders without protesting or hesitating.

"So what are you here for this time?" Sasuke asked lowly.

Kabuto let out a calm, knowing chuckle.

"As much as that little match was amusing, Uchiha, don't be so sudden to assume. Don't assume that I'm here to take Hinata away from you to help me. When did I ever say that_ I_ needed Hinata for something?"

An unsettling silence passed through the clearing and silenced Sasuke immediately.

"I am here to give her this." Kabuto stated.

Then out of the fractured gleam of the setting sun, Hinata caught sight of a letter, noticed Sasuke freeze, and just barely managed to read the following words:

_Are you alive?_

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**A/N: **Apologies for the late update! ACKNOWLEDGMENTS GO TO: **alexandrabryce**, **Encuentrame**, **DageRee**, **ultima-owner**, **Saki-Hime**, **YamiHinata**, **kawaiiyagi** and **Rosebunse**!

Thank you for your continued support! I hope you enjoyed this update! :D

**So we meet again... * grins evilly and gets out review-magnet gun* IMMA GIVE YOU THREE SECONDS OR YOU GET THE GUN!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Wish For Something**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. The new plots (meaning the ones you don't recognise) and my OCs belong to me, but anything Naruto related belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Don't plagiarise, it's not cool.

**A/N**: UPPPPPPPDAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD! Thanks for your reviews + support! ^^ :D It TOOK me a month to finish this chapter—can you believe that? How dare I do this to my faithful reviewers? – make them wait, one month?! I've got to compensate to you all in some way... here's chapter 7:

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

**Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

* * *

Feeling like a cruel force had seized her in its iron grip, Hinata stood unmoving in her own spotlight as the sun shifted from under the clouds and illuminated her face with its bright amber rays.

Smiling, Kabuto gave off the exact image of a child who thought they had true power over someone.

"It looks like you've got a surprise, Hinata." Kabuto said.

Sasuke scowled deeply, not liking the way Kabuto was going.

"Kabuto." He snarled.

The male medic frowned upon Sasuke.

"...Instead of obsessively putting the obvious into a factual context, get to _a_ _point_."

Knowing that the power would eventually go to his head after all his years of service to Orochimaru, Sasuke pitied what was left of Kabuto—a useless mess of manipulation and lies.

Ignoring Sasuke's comment, Kabuto continued. "How nice. Someone is worried about you. _Are you alive?_" Kabuto read, turning the letter over so that Hinata could read it properly.

Having been standing idly on the side lines while Sasuke and Kabuto had their less than friendly exchange, Hinata finally came forward to stare in full view at the short message with no name or signature to consent who had written it.

Hinata furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Why were they trying to save her? Why did they care that she might still be alive? What if she'd been injured under the circumstances, to such a degree that she could no longer be a Shinobi? Would they still want her back in the Leaf village in such a condition?

Leaning forward even further, and letting the fine rays of sunlight illuminate her face once again, Hinata activated Byakugan...

_No... I can't pick up any traces of a chakra signature left over on the parchment whatsoever. There's no way of telling who wrote this letter._

Stepping back to Sasuke's side, Hinata abruptly met his mysterious gaze, and felt a warm safeness suddenly flood over her.

"It's a taboo, in ways." Kabuto said, looking at the parchment fondly, as if he could find a million ways of getting at Hinata just through mentioning it in a negative light. It clearly delighted him. "And I find that—"

"We don't, _care_." Sasuke interrupted heartlessly. "If that's all, _leave_."

Kabuto adjusted his glasses indignantly.

"You mean this news doesn't unsettle you just a_ bit_?" Kabuto asked, his eyes narrowed.

Sasuke's glare intensified, and scowling, he answered unflinchingly.

"Yes. You've been annoying to me lately, Kabuto. If you think that I care about Orochimaru's orders, you're stupid. Orochimaru's _words_ won't protect you when I go against them by touching you. I'll do more than touch you, I'll k—"

"...Sasuke, please, don't!" Hinata intervened, shocked. Her hand had found its way to rest firmly on his shoulder. Once Hinata realised what she had done, she pulled back and looked down awkwardly.

Also stunned for a second, Sasuke slowly recomposed himself, his eyes once again returning dark and adumbrated with conflict.

Hesitating, Hinata quickly built up what she wanted to say inside her head.

"Kabuto, you don't intimidate me,"

Surprised by how loud she sounded, and how freely the words had spilt out of her mouth, Hinata continued.

"We just want answers. So please can you tell us who sent this letter... i-if you know."

Both male ninjas stood in dumfounded silence at Hinata's impressive leap in attitude, until Kabuto spoke up, frowning slightly.

"No human physically brought it here." Kabuto said. He looked at a bristling Tsuga tree absently. "It came by messenger bird. The only problem with those things is if the person you're sending it to happens to be caught by the enemy, it won't be of any use to them. They can't send back to ask for help."

His lips rose suspiciously. Knowing immediately that what Kabuto would say next couldn't be positive, Hinata steeled herself.

"Cleverly, the person sending this letter didn't leave a name to give themselves away. It could be _anyone_, to _anyone_. Maybe it's for an already dead test subject, from their worried loved ones, back in their village. There's no telling who this letter is really for... or if it's for you."

Kabuto's dark words rebounded in Hinata's head painfully; and even though she knew the answer already, she peered at the bottom of the parchment where there should have been a name, yet there was nothing. It was just blank. Deserted.

Kabuto was right.

_Maybe it's for an already dead test subject, from their worried loved ones,_ _back in their village._ _There's no telling who this letter is really for... or if it's for you._

A veil of cold realisation snatched Hinata's last hope instantly.

"_Go." _Sasuke said in a low growl to Kabuto, the impatience in his voice saying everything that Kabuto needed to know if he wanted a head to rest on if he ever went to bed again.

Sasuke's deep voice momentarily distracted Hinata from her affliction.

Kabuto turned around, conclusively enclosing his hand around the letter so that it was no longer visible. He looked up at the Tsuga tree once again, holding his gaze against it a second longer than Hinata had expected.

_That boy is uncontrollable... it's too bad we need him for our plans. He plays a big role._

"Fine." Kabuto sighed in disappointment.

Had he really wanted to trouble them further? Feeling thankful that Sasuke had intervened for her, Hinata gave a small smile.

"...Unfortunately, I do have patients to attend to that I have had to neglect in order to inform you of this letter. But I will first report this to Orochimaru. I'm sure he'd be delighted to hear the news."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

_Tch_.

When Kabuto disappeared from sight, his gaze fell on Hinata.

"He doesn't have enough nerve to go through with my threat." Sasuke smirked, but then his face darkened as he spoke seriously.

"Kabuto always likes getting the last word in. He's asking to be killed savagely one day," Sasuke said plainly. "His enemies have smaller attention spans during battle and won't care about final words so he's not exactly at their mercy."

Hinata hesitantly nodded.

"You too."

Confused for a second, Hinata just stared at Sasuke, blinking rapidly. She made a small gesture to herself.

"Me? What do you..."

Sasuke nodded, somehow unable to completely meet her eyes.

"Yes. You." He murmured. "If you're going to overcome any weakness, picture the weakness as your enemy. You won't win by letting it have the first chance. Sometimes you have to think irrationally and do things without hesitating. You shouldn't wait for them to attack you first, even if you don't know whether their intentions are good or bad, just go ahead without knowing their intent to be safe. Because when they hit _you_ first, there's no going back to rewind time. You die."

Hinata could've sworn the enclosure silenced, as if agreeing with Sasuke, making the moment tenser.

Hinata's mouth opened to say something but she snapped it back shut just as quickly. Sasuke turned away.

"...Not that you needed to know," Sasuke finally murmured, cocking his head and smirking slightly at her. "You're strong. You've already overcome it. Though I wouldn't go as far as saying you know it all yet, you still have a long way to go,"

Although it was difficult to decipher, Sasuke sounded as though he regarded Hinata notably above average; for someone usually detached, uncaring in attitude, and lacking interest in anything but revenge, it was a surprising turnaround.

Immediately wanting to show Sasuke that she could meet these standards, Hinata nodded firmly. "You're right, I'll try... harder next time."

Smiling back at Sasuke, Hinata noticed that he did not flinch straight away at her gesture, and just continued to stare at her naturally intensely, like he thought that was more satisfactory than smiling in return.

Though she wouldn't admit it aloud, Hinata knew in her mind that Sasuke was a good teacher and guide, but maybe not the most empathetic of ones.

Unsure of what was running through the Uchiha's mind now, Hinata nodded and took her exit in silence.

Just as Hinata neared the exit wall of Sasuke's territory, she felt a hand calmly clutch her wrist to stop her.

She turned around in wonder to face Sasuke again, this time uncomfortably close to his firm chest, feeling positively confounded. Her cheeks began to burn.

"Sasuke... what...?"

"...We're not done yet." He said simply.

"That letter... it was for you."

Hinata stood in stunned silence, not expecting that abrupt announcement. Though it was said with no uncertainty or hesitance, Hinata still wanted to question Sasuke's intentions.

"How do you know?"

Kabuto clearly stated that he had no idea how that letter had come in their midst or who had sent it, and she'd _seen_ it with her own eyes that there was no signature or name on the parchment. The letter was anonymous as for that matter. How did Sasuke know?

Sasuke shook his head.

"You don't get it, do you?" He seemed amused.

Hinata shook her head rather blatantly. No, she didn't understand where Sasuke's confidence in who the letter was for had come from. It could be _for_ _anybody_—a victim suffering in the darkness of their cell, from their anxious, faraway village. Or maybe her village had found a way...

"I don't know any other prisoner here who isn't more valuable to their village than you. They've all got bloodline limits... why else were they kidnapped? But which other Hidden village would succumb to rescuing a fallen shinobi like this than the Leaf?"

Hinata slowly stopped resisting the truth, knowing that she could be wasting their time by stubbornly holding on to a hopeless refusal.

As if reading her mind about her reluctance, Sasuke pitched in, saying sardonically. "Kabuto is as fake as fake gets... don't pay any attention to his mind games. He wants you to think that there's no hope."

Sasuke's intense gaze strayed away from Hinata's face.

"...I think I know who sent it."

XXX

The afternoon withered past with an odd haste Hinata didn't know existed. In the distance, the optical sunset continued to burn restlessly, giving the cloudless sky a soft orange tinge.

Viewing this from her room, the familiar feeling of loneliness and detachment latched onto Hinata.

She had been thinking about what Sasuke had insinuated: the Leaf had sent the letter and that it was for her only. She hadn't thought of asking him what _he_ thought of it. Though she would be happy to be rescued, Hinata knew that if she returned to the Leaf village, it would put a dent in all their hard work so far. She had noticed that they were changing each other much quicker by being in the base together, and progress had come their way quite rapidly.

_Stop humbling yourself. The Hidden Leaf wouldn't cast you aside so quickly, Hinata._

Hinata found herself distractedly examining the Seal, innocently resting on her arm.

She usually tried her best to just ignore the existence of the Seal altogether, but for some reason, she could always feel it breathing through the microscopic gaps of the material of her sleeve.

Its kanji—_tamashi_—which meant 'soul', had never seemed so arousing.

Sasuke had told Hinata that he knew who had specifically sent the letter, but didn't expand as to _telling_ her who it was, for whatever reason.

Collecting a book from the inventory that she had discovered behind a trapdoor amidst her bathroom one day by accident, Hinata pulled out a disintegrated heap of paper, which must've once been a book.

She hadn't come across this one before, and unconsciously began skimming over it.

_Date: 4__th__ December Time: 03:56 am Objective: Immortality Location: Ryuchi Cave_

_Research material source:- Daisuke Higashi's mind capacity. _

_"Due to the fragility of my current host body, I am unable to harness my senjutsu chakra to its full potential and must develop an alternative method that does not strain the limits of Daisuke Higashi's mentality. To find a host body that could bear such a devastating ability that would not be unsustainable during battle would mean more years of research. To compensate for this flaw I have developed other novel uses of the senjutsu chakra: cursed seals. Perhaps through Curse seals I may be able to achieve something higher. Daisuke Higashi has proven to be a useful puppet at my disposal on the nature of senjutsu chakra, but the host body of someone possessing a highly developed Sharingan could get better results._

_Condition/status: needs further work_

_Research two:_

_"The Living Corpse reanimation which allows me to transfer my soul into another body and extend my life has many flaws that are stopping me from success. To use this technique, I must leave my former body ..."_

The inventory must've been a storeroom long forgotten by Kabuto and Orochimaru, for unneeded research books. Maybe they had planned of burning the now withering books but had forgotten to as other priorities came in the way.

Dropping the papers to the ground in an action of shock and wishing she had never read them, Hinata realised that she may have unlocked one of the reasons why Orochimaru wanted Sasuke as his vessel so much.

"_Daisuke Higashi has proven to be a useful puppet at my disposal on the nature of senjutsu chakra, but the host body of someone possessing a highly developed Sharingan could get better results."_

Was 'Daisuke Higashi' one of Orochimaru's previous vessels?

Hinata shook her head and perceived that it would do her good if she took a bathe in a bathtub of sizzling hot water.

Hinata entered the bathroom, and fifteen minutes later remerged fully clad, brushing wet, indigo hair. The sun had fallen behind the hills of whatever village this base lay, which left her with no other light source. She felt her way in the darkness, not wanting to waste her chakra using Byakugan when her bed was only meters away... somewhere.

Sure enough, Hinata found the creased covers of her bed, and delicately lowered herself down inside.

Something prodded her mind before she finally fell asleep. It was something that Ai said, and Hinata pictured her dead face as she remembered her last words...

_"I'm dead, the village has moved on without me, they've forgotten me. It's been five years."_

Then Hinata thought of what Kabuto had said.

_"How nice. Someone is worried about you. Are you alive?" _

Closing her eyes in retaliation, Hinata tried not to think of how uncannily similar her position was becoming to Ai's...

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**A/N:** ACKNOWLEDGMENTS GO TO: **AnimeRocks793**, **Arethahiwatari**, **YamiHinata**, **Saki-Hime**, **ultima-owner**, **boyarina**, **Mikky the Mouse**, **Rosebunse**, **kawaiiyagi**, **Aoi Kitsune12** and **suicune4ever**! Thank you for all the kind reviews and support that you give me! ^^ :D

This chapter is shorter than usual, but do not fear - I am not degrading at all! Everything is building up to something good... you will see. ^^ :D *** cue evil laughter and thunder & lightening***

**Reviews mean permits  
to eat cookies for MEEE! And I'm hungry... ?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Wish For Something**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing.

**A/N: **Enjoy! ^^ :D ***smirks evilly***

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

**Written By 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

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Absently washing sore hands in the sink of her contemporary bathroom, Hinata unexpectedly found herself taking a step back as a series of rabid knocking punctuated the relative silence of her room.

Hinata turned to the door, hesitating before slowly coming forward to place a tentative hand on the doorknob, and using her other hand she activated Byakugan.

Hinata gasped in surprise as she saw the familiar skeletal structure of the stout man who had formerly brought her to Orochimaru on the other side of the door.

Various, disturbing thoughts brocaded her mind...then somewhere out of the haze her hand turned the knob and she stepped back to let him in.

Yoshiharu, she believed his name was, met her gaze for a split second before shifting his dark eyes away nervously.

"He...Orochimaru wishes for your presence...he wants you to cut off your chakra system in preparation."

This time, he seemed more troubled than the first time he had summoned her for Orochimaru.

XXX

Hinata didn't try to memorise the route as he lead her again to Orochimaru's chamber. Instead she listened...her heartbeat thudding dully _hollowly_, against her chest as if it were preparing to face its own demise.

They came to a halt outside his door.

Hinata watched in silent terror. As Yoshiharu unlocked the door and pushed it open slowly, she noticed that he would not enter with her this time.

"Orochimaru is waiting... whatever you do, don't unleash the flow of your chakra system." He almost whispered, ducking away to leave.

Hinata turned back to the door, barely able to make out a figure amongst the unmistakably thick darkness that shrouded his chamber.

She stepped out of her thoughts and squared her shoulders bravely.

_Prepare for what? I-It can't be... the end yet. Me and Sasuke haven't even changed each other... we haven't unlocked the wishes._

Hinata faked a calm expression on her delicate features, and entered.

Cold. Hollow. Serpentine eyes. They flickered with her every move. He watched her intensely. Hinata had to look away from his gaze. So... coaxing...suffocating.

Deathly.

To be there alone with Orochimaru nearly made Hinata break down. She trembled instinctively as he opened his mouth to speak.

"I only want you for something small," Orochimaru said softly, as if sensing her distress and the afraid questioning in her lavender eyes from his seat.

Fidgeting undecidedly with the hem of her sleeve, Hinata opted to remain silent and wait. She had not forgotten what he had done to her last time. He had mercilessly shown her death. If Sasuke hadn't been there to intervene for her...

Sasuke...

A shift in the darkness... Orochimaru was getting up!

Hinata involuntarily took a step back. Orochimaru didn't seem to notice. He approached her calmly, and holding out a pale, bony hand, he extended it for her to take.

Hinata didn't want to do it, but she found herself taking hold of his hand. Why wasn't she resisting?

Orochimaru smiled fondly. He let go of her hand, placing his own under her chin for a second to hold her face up to his; and at his touch Hinata shivered.

Then Orochimaru spoke, never breaking his serpentine gaze with hers.

"I've been hearing quite a lot about your excellent performance. Kabuto has told me that you are so talented and useful. We'll add three more weeks to your ultimate operation. It won't be until another month. In the meantime, continue you're work—it is much needed." He said, smiling.

"...but before you go, I want to watch you healing, Hinata."

The atmosphere in the room fell rapidly. Hinata didn't even notice the cold, clam hand which remained at her skin. _"... whatever you do, don't unleash the flow of your chakra system."... And to heal I have to use my chakra..._

"B-But how...my chakra system... I-"

He examined her eyes closely. "The _Byakugan_ is an important kekkei genkai. It is one of the three Great Doujutsu."

Hinata didn't move a muscle, for fear that she truly was in the presence of a hungry snake. The way Orochimaru's eyes had flashed with hunger at that moment... just at the mention of her kekkei genkai.

"You don't need your chakra system. You should be able to harness the ability of your Gentle Fist technique to draw chakra from other objects, such as my hand. Use it to your will _manipulate_ it to do your bidding."

His eyes flashed with hunger once again, but only for a split second.

Hinata's lavender eyes widened; at that moment she'd finally realised something.

He wanted to take her eyes before extracting her wish. She had to die for him to do it anyway. He was lying.

Hinata didn't move when Orochimaru finally let go of her chin and turned around.

She had a plan. When she activated Gentle Fist... but only if Orochimaru's theory really was true...

"Go ahead, Hinata," He said softly, his words truly uncanny, considering he would be inviting her to do something greater than what he presumed.

When Hinata realised she had been spoken to, she nodded calmly, trying not to betray her true intent and preparing herself for what she was about to do.

_I...I am going to kill Orochimaru._

She might even die in the act...but if that was what being a ninja was about... then she would die, even if she didn't want to.

Sasuke...

She knew he was currently on a mission. There was no way he could save her now. She just had to protect herself...take ownership and defend what was hers.

Time seemed to have passed as Hinata tended her thoughts. Now brought in front of her was a patient she vaguely remembered healing once in the past amongst countless other test subjects but all his cuts had been reopened... purposefully. For her to mend as a demonstration.

Hinata tried not to let the feeling of injustice surge up her throat as she looked at his pained features.

She glanced once in Orochimaru's direction.

_I fear no more of that... man. He is a monster. M-Monsters never win in the end._

A deep breath.

Hinata distantly acknowledged her hands moving together to form the hand signs. She breathed in the pecks of chakra floating all around the room... but the vast majority were mainly built up and literally spilling out from Orochimaru's form... however it was all very hazy and required all of her attention and focus. She had never done this before.

Frowning, Hinata activated Byakugan, and at that moment everything cleared. She could really do it.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Hinata pierced Orochimaru with an intense stare, as she focused the invisible vacuum pull of the Gentle Fist technique at him.

It was almost like a cord, drawing out his chakra.

She was... absorbing Orochimaru's chakra! Maybe not technically _absorbing_ his chakra, because she could not take it into her own body and use it as her chakra system had been cut off; but she seemed to be doing a good job of drawing it out.

Hinata almost thought he was going to stop her... but it seemed Orochimaru trusted her.

She glanced at the unconscious patient for a split second. Hinata made it seem as if she was transporting the levitated chakra over to the patient, but in a blinding turnaround she thrust it at Orochimaru, aiming for all his vial chakra points as she glared at them determinedly through her byakugan.

Unexpectedly Hinata glimpsed Orochimaru's lips upturn, then, _poof_.

A Clone!

Hinata felt a hand firmly grip her shoulder from behind and turned to face Orochimaru again.

She stepped back from his touch in alarm, but he didn't let go. She felt his sharp nails claw into her shoulder blade painfully.

Hinata winced.

He didn't seem to notice and merely narrowed his predatory, hollow eyes.

"You made the wrong choice. I was waiting to see your outcome." He spoke softly. "Once you'd realised I was lying about letting you go, you decided to try and kill me." And shaking his dark head condemningly, Orochimaru smirked.

"Don't underestimate a Sanin."

She had no time to react as his mouth opened and he plunged two sharp fangs into her neck.

* * *

**A/N**: WHAT DO YOU THINK ?! ^^ :D


	9. Chapter 9

**Wish For Something**

**Disclaimer: **I own Nothing.

* * *

**CHAPTER NINE**

**Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

* * *

There was a searing pain at her neck as Hinata regained consciousness. When her eyes fluttered open her vision was hazy. She didn't have half the mind to remotely _realise_ what had happened to her.

The pain was so intense and overwhelming, it was all she could do to stay conscious... and not go insane.

Crying quietly, confused, in pain, and lost, Hinata slowly closed her eyes once again.

-:-

The seventh time Hinata managed to fight her way out of unconsciousness, she felt stronger. Strong enough to open her eyes again. She caught glimpses of two hazy figures. Someone else was there!

_...Is there hope?_

Before Hinata could gain any relief or comfort from the thought, mercilessly, like the pain of a thousand snake's bites, a white-hot fire rippled its course throughout her body, and this time she didn't hold back the cry of distress that escaped her lips.

-:-

No longer spikey, Sasuke's ebony locks clung to his face. He set his mouth in a firm straight line and his deep blood-red eyes with the spinning tome faded obsidian. His mission was finally over.

It was raining. Sasuke hated it.

He hated _the_ world.

Sasuke had long since learnt that about himself after the massacre of his clan. There was nothing worth living for after he killed Itachi.

But rather unexpectedly, Hinata's delicate, mesmerising face flashed in Sasuke's mind.

He wouldn't deny it. Knowing that Hinata would be there—waiting for him, made returning to the base nicer to _return_ to. Her presence had brought something more than burdening to him... it had bought him calmness, warmth and a strong feeling of..._possessiveness_. He noticed that a lot when he was around her. Sometimes the pent up hate that he kept locked up in his soul couldn't help but acknowledge Hinata's presence and leave Sasuke's mind in peace.

That was why he came to the base quicker, and in time to save her.

As he surveyed the air and knew immediately that something wasn't right.

XXX

_two hours later_

Sasuke's obsidian eyes slid over the scene, taking everything in. Then, he held Orochimaru's gaze steadily.

"Ssssasuke..."

Orochimaru's words were punctuated by a shrill cry as Hinata's curse seal matured. It now left a trail composed of deathly black tattoos from her collar bone all the way up to one side of her sweat-stricken face. It made a striking, if not _worrying_ contrast with her ghostly skin.

Sasuke shifted his eyes away from Hinata's form. They landed on Orochimaru, full of hostility and the promising of unbearable pain.

"Let me make this perfectly clear to you,"

Orochimaru smiled softly, "Now, Sasuke—"

"I am an avenger. If you _hurt_ anyone I care enough about...you _die_."

Sasuke's dark words didn't seem to have much of an effect on the older ex-Sanin.

Orochimaru just chuckled.

"Do not underestimate me like that Hyuuga did. I have powerful Senjutsu chakra. Do you want me to give you another curse seal?" Orochimaru's lips rose. "I'm quite sure it could kill you after the first few hours."

This only angered the Uchiha avenger more.

"I'm done talking." Sasuke announced in a low growl. And without waiting another semi-second he thrust a kunai at Orochimaru's heart. The ex-Sanin just smiled and caught it in his hand.

"Sssssasuke... I don't expect to be played with. I know you can do more than that."

"I know," Sasuke said, his face hostile, Sharingan activated and an arrogant smirk in place. He pierced Orochimaru with an unblinking stare.

"...I was just preparing my genjutsu."

The raven-black tome spun.

The room suddenly filled with silence; then, a bark of laughter left the Snake Sanin's thin lips.

"I am long since immune to any kinds of _genjutsu_." Orochimaru chided condemningly. "Have you forgotten? Have you not learnt anything from me, my pupil?"

Sasuke didn't give him a response. _My main problem isn't taking down Orochimaru. I've trained hard enough, and I'm more than sure of myself. _Sasuke thought, nonchalantly allowing his arm to ignite with formidable lightening, his gaze still fixated on Orochimaru...

_I'm worried...that Hinata..._

Reading Sasuke's mind instantly, Orochimaru spoke.

"Don't tell me you have feelings for that weak girl, Sasuke." Lifting up a bony hand, Orochimaru flicked back his dark hair and narrowed his hollow-yellow eyes.

"...It is probable that she will die by the end of our fight."

Sasuke, not once flinching, let his glare intensify.

"Hinata is not going to die."

Lightening increased. _Thrasssh! Sizzle! Thrasssh!_

"What makes you think that, I wonder?" Orochimaru asked, amused. His voice barely broke over the loudness of Sasuke's Chidori. Orochimaru also didn't seem to notice the monstrosity that it was becoming.

"... she is stronger than you think."

Then without further notice, Sasuke charged forward, and they were fighting.

Somewhere amongst the heated battle, Hinata stirred in her pained slumber, but only for a few seconds. She didn't even notice what was going on around her, or the amount of energy and hate that Sasuke was putting in to protect her—_for_ her.

As they fought, Orochimaru took a sudden step back, and raised his arm.

"Wait. I have something to tell you if you might listen one last time,"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes darkly.

"What?"

Orochimaru chuckled quietly. "As you know Sssasuke, I lost both my arms due to a Shinigami in my fight against the Fourth Hokage at the climax of the Chunin exams. I now wish to have power greater than that of the Shinigami, and you letting me have a look at you could help me."

Sasuke assessed Orochimaru quietly for a fraction of a second.

"What makes you think I care now?"

Orochimaru shook his head. "Oh, Sasuke," he murmured, looked up at his student with fond, predatory eyes.

Sasuke knew that Orochimaru only intended to trick him into letting his guard down, so that he could take over his body, after the long wait. Then he'd be able to access Sasuke's wish...

_... I won't let that happen even if it's the last thing I do._

"You're calculating. I've always liked that about you... Uchiha. Never trust anything to begin with."

"Is that what you wanted to tell me?" Sasuke asked impatiently, raising a sceptical eyebrow.

Orochimaru's smile contorted into a slight frown, but still remained menacing.

"No. I just wanted you to know that with great power, comes great responsibility, Sasuke. Surely you can't kindle such great power on your own."

"Tch." Sasuke began lifting his blade. _I have no time for this..._

"...and in all honesty, I had hoped to bargain back my arms so that I may once again use them to their full power. The wishes, both of the Hyuuga and yourself, are of unworldly, _rare_ value."

"—Whatever." Sasuke cut in, sharp and plain. He glared fiercely.

Then, at the thought, Sasuke glanced over at Hinata's still form. ..._He hasn't managed to get her wish yet. I can still see the Seal on her arm through my Sharingan. That's good._

Stepping forward conversationally, Sasuke looked straight at Orochimaru with his haunting eyes.

"...I was ready to give you my body if it meant I could attain my goal of revenge."

Raising an arm, Sasuke swiftly blast the lightening that he'd kept charged at his hand since the beginning of their battle when he'd struck the genjutsu.

_BLAAAASSSSST!_

Amongst the silence, the smoke, and the flaky darkness, there was a serpentine shift.

"You've shown you're true form. Hn."

Sasuke smirked.

XXX

The battle was over. Sasuke had beaten Orochimaru. Pressing a hand at his neck to supress his Heaven curse seal, Sasuke returned to his normal appearance.

His gaze slid over to the still, fragile body lying in the corner of the room. He went over to her and carried her in his warm, strong arms.

"Hinata..." he murmured, her name rolling off his lips quietly. Was that concern?

She stirred, squinting up at him weakly.

* * *

**A/N**: Since I skipped the _acknowledgments_ in last chapter, I will be combing those of chapter seven with the acknowledgments of last chapter! A massive thank you as always for your feedback! ^^ :D Also, I would like to gratify those quiet ones who follow and favourite my story. ^^ :D

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS GO TO: **ultima-owner**, **YouMeAndEternity**, **YamiHinata**, **RoseBunse**, **Senbonzakura22**, **Aoi Kitsune12**, **suicune4ever** and **AnimeRocks793**!

Ja ne!


	10. Chapter 10

**Wish For Something**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**A/N: *lets out fangirl squeal*** Are you ready?

* * *

**CHAPTER TEN**

**Written By 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

* * *

Hinata thought she had heard someone call her name. The sound had been faint. So far away. Consequently, she could feel something warm near her—another body!

Hinata peeped open her heavy eyes but closed them instantly from an outburst of pain at her neck. However, like a long-beaten warrior, Hinata feebly fought against the formidable pain and forced open her eyes once more. She needed to see what was going on. What was happening to her.

She last remembered Orochimaru turning out to be a clone, then darkness.

Eyes fully open, Hinata immediately caught sight of something terrifying. A dead, giant white snake. It lay slain in a dark corner of the room with ashes from its burnt scales surrounding it. Those of its remaining poisonous, defined scales looped along its frame, inanimate. The odour of its depleting, poisonous toxin filled the room.

Then Hinata felt a pair of eyes on her, and looked up to see the person holding her so closely. Could it be...Naruto?

No, it wasn't. Naruto didn't have intense charcoal eyes. Nor did he have those prominent, raven-black locks.

"Sa...Sasuke," Hinata said, her voice unusually low and wispy.

She thought she caught his scrutinising eyes flash with relief... but maybe she had just imagined it in her weakened state.

"You're very weak." Sasuke stated quietly.

_I couldn't stop Orochimaru from hurting her._

"You need to rest."

_Tch! I couldn't get to her in time!_

"Wh-What..."

_It's my fault._

Sasuke turned away regretfully.

"There's no way you're going back to the Leaf Village in this state," Sasuke said firmly. "I think I know where there's a deserted cottage near here... otherwise we'll have to use some abandoned warehouse..."

Hinata spluttered some incomprehensible words before the first distinguishable ones came through.

"B-But...what would I, um, need to do that for?"

"You're not... the same as you were a day ago. I'm going to take you into my care."

Silence.

Hinata's heart raced even though she didn't understand what Sasuke had said meant. He currently had his head turned aside, to the giant snake, so she couldn't try to gauge his facial expression; though going by the tension was enough: it couldn't be anything good.

"Ano S-Sasuke... what do you mean, um, I'm not the same as I was a day a—?"At that moment, the consuming pain at Hinata's neck intensified as if it was angry she had managed to defy it for so long. The pulsing feeling was terrible. She reclined as if an invisible force had punched her in the stomach.

Sasuke's eyes never flickered with emotion as she recovered, but Hinata knew he had noticed this.

"Sasuke... please explain to me w-what's going on?"

"You survived the first awakening so you should be fine if I keep watch over you for a while. Then you can go back to the Leaf Village. You were lucky... you don't have the curse seal of Heaven, like me. It's one of the strongest, and I don't think you would've survived if Orochimaru had branded you with it," Sasuke breathed dispassionately. "the dead Snake—that's Orochimaru."

Hinata spluttered in shock, her gaze averting warily, then she stilled in an instant. Bringing forward a shaky hand and slowly touching it to the area that pained her most, her eyes widened with stricken shock as they caught sight of the tattooed curse mark.

Sasuke couldn't look at her.

_This should never have happened, not to Hinata._

"It's... you have the Curse mark." Sasuke said with slight difficulty, and some bitterness. He couldn't rewind time, even if he wished. Nor could he understand why he felt so aggravated towards the ordeal.

What was done was done.

Without further notice Sasuke tightened his arm around Hinata's frame and with nothing more to say, they were gone.

_Now it's my responsibility to make sure that she does survive this._

XXX

Outside it continued raining with a passion. Sasuke had covered a large distance, Hinata asleep in his arms. He wasn't impressed at how soaked she had become—now she was shivering. Not just that, every so often Hinata flinched or sobbed completely to the mercy of curse seal's maturing. Sasuke would hold her even closer whenever this happened. He hated to see her so immobilised in pain by its evil power.

Eventually Sasuke had decided that her shivering had gotten out of hand, and had tried to put her down so that he could strip away her wet layers and re-clad her with his own, but she wouldn't let him push her away.

Hinata's arms had unconsciously tightened around Sasuke, snuggling further into his warmer, stronger embrace.

Sasuke had frozen for a few seconds. There had been an uncomfortable silence, with Hinata breathing quietly, unknowingly and Sasuke staring at the mesmerising face involuntarily.

_Innocent. Beauty beyond belief._

Thankfully, Sasuke had snapped himself out of it. _I can't afford to make any attachments with anyone... much less Hinata._

Now thinking back to it, Sasuke's lips slowly rose in amusement. _That's interesting._ Sasuke thought. _She doesn't mind being close to me if she isn't aware of it... though before I jump to conclusions, it's assumable that she would probably be the same towards another warmth-giving human being._

Not soon later—_at_ _last—_ the little cottage came into view. It lay on the outskirts of the Sound village, so they were quite safe. As long as Sasuke was there, they wouldn't have any trouble. At least in the small cottage, Sasuke could scavenge the necessary materials to make a fire and gather some blankets to keep Hinata warm. It was expected that they would be undisturbed for the duration they'd be staying there.

When Sasuke asked himself why he would do _any_ of this for anyone, as he placed Hinata on a futon by the fire so that she could warm up before he took her upstairs to sleep on a bed, he told himself that it was because it was his responsibility, and that if he had been there to stop Orochimaru in time, none of this would've happened.

But then, Sasuke knew deep down somewhere, the fact that this was Hinata he was talking about, made it easier. Everything _easier_.

Hinata's eyes suddenly fluttered open, first catching sight of the fire next to her then widening momentarily as she caught sight of Sasuke. He seemed to be doing something with his arms in the corner of the room. His shirt was off completely, as it seemed apparent that the temperature of the fire beside her was hotter than she realised.

At that moment, Sasuke's shoulders shook as if he was experiencing a tremor of jarring pain. Since Sasuke's back was to her, Hinata had no way of seeing any part of his face.

_Why is Sasuke in pain? _

The listless, unanswered thought got cast away. Hinata must've just imagined it, though she felt more alert now than she had ever been since Sasuke had rescued her.

_Nothing makes sense any more..._

Hinata sat up—or tried to_,_ weakly—and Sasuke immediately stilled.

"How well did you sleep?" He asked, though more _demanded_, a natural perk in his deep masculine voice, from where he was.

Hinata tried to recall her sleeping experience, noting that she must have lost unconsciousness from the point when Sasuke carried her out of the base to their journey to the small place they were currently situated.

Truthfully, Hinata had had a bad dream. But that was nothing to be made a big discussion out of.

"I slept well, Sasuke. Thank you... for your concern, um, I mean." Trying to ignore the return of her stammer, Hinata flushed, directing her attention away to the little light that the moon and precarious stars gave them from the only window that the room harboured.

He glanced at her.

"Hn. Is that so."

It was a kind of awkward statement. Hinata ducked her head under the weight of his sceptical gaze.

"Umm... yes." Hinata answered shyly, feeling somewhat tenser if that were possible at this stage.

Right then, Sasuke got up and approached her, stopping just in front of her sprawled feet. Hinata hesitated as she tucked her legs under the heap of blankets over her body, to neaten herself up.

"How does it feel?" He asked.

Knowing that Sasuke meant the curse seal, Hinata shifted uncomfortably before answering.

"I...It is a bit painful." Hinata said honestly.

"Hn."

_She doesn't deserve this._

Sasuke nodded solemnly.

"It's nearly eleven o'clock. I want you to get some more sleep. There's no way that you'll be fit to even be shy tomorrow. Do you want me to carry you up?"

"N-No, I can do it on my own." Hinata declined, nearly blushing at Sasuke's nonchalance towards carrying her. "Ano, but can you tell me more of what happened today? I've been unconscious for most of the time and... " Hinata felt herself tearing up, beginning to choke on her words.

"...I-It doesn't matter." Hinata finally said, rushing to her feet so that she could escape to anywhere but there. She didn't want Sasuke to see her in such an emotional state. It seemed being locked up in the base and away from home for weeks had slowly crippled her and torn her apart, bit by bit. Finally, the ending results were showing. She couldn't bottle it up anymore.

But if she hadn't, would Sasuke have cared to listen? He had no obligation to, so why would he? What care did he have of the Leaf village anymore?

At that moment the curse seal gave a tremendous jerk. Hinata winced, her steps faltering.

"Hinata." The sound of Sasuke's voice stopped her. She turned around to meet his gaze and froze. "I'm sorry." He said.

Those could not be the serious and sincere dark eyes of someone who didn't care.

Hinata didn't know what to say. Before she could make sure she had heard those words right, the Uchiha survivor continued, not once fazed by the tears streamed down Hinata's rosy cheeks, or the messy indigo locks of her unkempt hair.

"If I knew that Orochimaru was going pull something as low as marking you, I would have killed him in cold blood sooner." Sasuke said icily.

Hinata shivered at his nonchalant mentioning of death in that manner.

"Because of him, this is what you're about to go through for the rest of your life."

Hinata tried to protest. "Sasuke, it's alright I-I don't—"

"Yes, you do." Sasuke said sharply, not breaking his locked gaze with her. He moved closer. "What you're going through as it is, is enough."

Hinata nearly gaped.

"...I'm serious, you could've died." Sasuke murmured.

Hinata grew surprised by Sasuke's intensity. _Anxiety_ for her safety. It was strange seeing the Uchiha avenger acting so differently; and to think that it was towards _her_.

Unsure of what do next, Hinata stood awkwardly once more, her lavender eyes losing a winning battle to hold his gaze.

Sasuke's face contorted with pain for a moment and he subtly glanced at his arm. This seemed to finally snap him out of his surprising empathetic affirmation.

"There are two bedrooms and a spare room. Your room has already been prepared, so you can just find it on your first left, down the passageway."

Hinata nodded in silent thanks, and left to ascend the stairs alone.

However, knowing that Sasuke's presence was just downstairs, strangely, she felt safe there.

XXX

Hinata's curse mark went on fire. She gasped unexpectedly, taking many deep breaths to calm herself down, wincing in consequent pain. Her hand flew over to it, willing the fire to stop...

Hinata didn't know when or how, but she knew that Sasuke was next to her, gazing into her lavender eyes fixatedly. She recognised the soft glow of his Sharingan through the nightly darkness straight away.

Everything was slipping past her, and before she knew it, she was falling back and—

Darkness.

XXX

The next morning, Hinata slowly rose from her bed and looked around the room, it, shimmering in the glorifying morning sunlight. The bedroom was only just bigger than her former cell at Orochimaru's base. It was more welcoming and had a comforting atmosphere, however, which eased some of her nerves, and gave peace to her mind despite the many ordeals dancing around her.

Quickly remembering what had happened during the night, Hinata peered cautiously at the Earth curse mark on her neck, the shape of it resembling three small wind turbines. It seemed innocent for the moment, but who knew when it would awaken to torment Hinata again?

Hinata's head spun suddenly. Her stomach rumbled. Was she imagining this, or could she smell the aroma of riceballs?

What time was it?

Hinata slid out gingerly, and inched her way towards the door, where she found the aroma was stronger. Hinata stepped out.

Sasuke hadn't been able to sleep that previous night after he had used Sharingan to silence the outburst of Hinata's curse seal. In a state of paranoia, or obsession over Hinata's further safety, he had swiftly slipped out of the cottage and posted himself outside on the lookout for any possible threats. By then it must've been at least midnight.

Now Sasuke stood coolly in the dusty kitchen of their alcove, preparing her first decent meal in weeks.

The impact of working long, constant hours in the base and receiving misbalanced exercise from that had left her in a fragile, weak shape. The curse seal on top of it all made Hinata's physical state even worse.

Sasuke was surprised to see her emerge into the kitchen delicately. She was strong. But one look at her terse face told him how much it was costing her.

_I can't make a single misconception or mistake. I have Hinata's life in my hands now. If I make any assumptions based on her unpredictable personality of proving to be stronger than she can actually handle, I'll wind up holding her dead in my arms by next twilight. _Sasuke thought darkly.

"Hinata take a seat," Sasuke said, stopping what he was doing to watch her carefully go forward and slide down.

Once he'd seen that she had seated herself without falling down or hurting her physic, he resumed what he was doing and an undefinable silence crept over them. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it wasn't comfortable either.

Hinata noticed that as Sasuke rinsed the rice and sieved it out of the dirty water resting in the basin, his arm shook again, as if he was in long-term pain and the effects were getting quite crippling to hide. She watched as Sasuke covered it up with an aggravated shrug. The highlights of a maniacal expression overtook his features and he turned away.

That didn't go unnoticed by Hinata. Now she definitely knew that she wasn't imagining things; Sasuke was hiding something from her and she had barely missed it.

At that moment Hinata made up her mind that as soon as she recovered fully, she would give him a once-over check-up. There was definitely something wrong, and she tried to shake off the feeling that Sasuke was badly hurt.

_...But why?_

Hinata was snapped back to reality as a fresh plate of three large riceballs appeared in front of her.

"It's not the most exotic thing I can make, but there were not enough satisfactory ingredients here other than the rice. I'll buy something tomorrow. By then you should be stronger to be left alone for a short period of time."

Hinata nodded, suddenly feeling like a burden. She still didn't understand why Sasuke would want to put up with looking after her like this.

"Alright, Sasuke." Hinata said. Though she wanted to say more, and it looked like Sasuke sensed it too.

He glanced at her.

"But... what about changing each other? And the wishes?"

"You're health comes first." Sasuke said shortly.

"I-I understand." Hinata said, unable to hold back the guilt in her eyes.

Sasuke turned away. He couldn't believe he was about to say this. _Why am I stooping so low for _her_?_

"...Anyway, the snake is gone, so we have no more pressure. We don't even have to claim the wishes anymore if we don't want to. Well do we?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hinata's eyes lit up. "No,"

"What we'll focus on for now is getting you're energy levels back to normal. You're too weak to even think about supressing the curse seal, so maybe I'll be showing you that tomorrow." Then Sasuke turned to grab his plate of food and went to eat it on a chair further away, nearly completely out the table; that way he could look out of a nearby window.

"Please, just eat."

XXX

The next few days went by with the phrase, 'time flies when you're having fun' being a slap in the face from reality.

The pain and trouble that the curse mark had given Hinata had to be worse than child labour, and Hinata silently forbid her father from ever learning this thought. Hinata knew it would all be over when the awakening process hit its final stage, but at the moment she felt like she was facing a ridged stone wall.

Hinata must have fainted more times in that cottage than all the times Naruto had unintentionally overwhelmed her with his bashfulness in the Leaf village.

Her mind had no longer been her own. When the curse seal had wanted her to be angry, she had been uncharacteristically angry. When it had wanted her to be sad, she had been shamelessly sad. And when it had wanted her to be a clumsy wreck, she didn't mind that Sasuke locked her away in the bathroom for a day.

Fun wasn't the right word. Enduring fitted better.

_I can do this... if I just endure. _Hinata thought, faced now with being alone in the cottage to save Sasuke from taking her out on a seventy mile journey.

He had shown her some techniques to stop the curse mark from controlling her, so she would be alright. Except it could only last her a short period of time and Sasuke was saving the most effective technique for last because he didn't want her to over-excerpt herself.

"I am lucky that I only have the curse seal of Earth," Hinata murmured. She couldn't begin to imagine the pain Sasuke had gone through three years ago. His was the curse seal of Heaven, nearly five times her curse seal's superior.

Then thoughts of how Hinata's life would become now that she had a curse seal also stirred an anxious feeling within her stomach. Would her comrades treat her the same? Would her village treat her the same?

_Of course they will... s-stop doubting._

Hinata decided to keep herself busy by continuing with tidying the cottage. It hadn't been looked after well by its previous deceased owner.

Despite the odd happens, they seemed to slip into an _almost_ normal pattern of routine at the cottage; and progress did come their way. Hinata admitted that the curse seal gave less frequent outbursts, and when it did, the pain felt weaker. She was overpowering it.

Hinata still felt determined to uncover what serious injury Sasuke was hiding from her, though he had been very careful to show no signs of it so far. Hinata's strength was returning so she had the confidence that she could heal whatever it was, if so be it.

Hinata also noticed that she couldn't deny... the feelings she was starting hold for Sasuke. From beginning to admire Sasuke in an affectionate way, much like Naruto, but different.

This time alone in the cottage gave Hinata the chance to finally sort out her thoughts and it was deeming more gratifying than she expected.

Though she had known Naruto more than she thought she could ever begin to imagine knowing Sasuke, he seemed to be winning her trust and better judgment. All those wasted times Hinata had spent trying to get Naruto's attention, and then her _love_ confession...

_Maybe I do need to move on... it can't be healthy to hold on to a hopeless cause._

Hinata remembered the night in the cottage that she had a nightmare about Orochimaru capturing her. She woke up screaming, tears falling from her eyes, wishing to be put out of her pain. Then she had heard the faint, padded footsteps punctuate her sobs in the hallway, and soon enough she felt the slight pressure on the mattress as Sasuke climbed onto her bed and enclosed his possessive arms around her, comforting her. Then he had left at some point during the night, while she had drifted off to sleep, because when Hinata woke up, he wasn't there.

Exhaling, Hinata put down the cloth. The curse mark was beginning to make her feel weak, and she needed to sit down and rest, or otherwise risk fainting and banging her head when she fell. After all, Sasuke would not be there to protect her until he returned.

* * *

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS GO TOOOOO:** Saki-Hime**, **alee26606**, **ultima-owner**, **Mikky the Mouse**, **YamiHinata** and **Rosebunse**!

Thank you for your long sweet reviews and short humorous ones I love my reviewers more than I love myself! ^^ :D You have another person that loves you in your lives. :3

I really hope none of you had to wait too long for this update! ^^ :D It was delayed. ;(

Ja ne!

**R? O.o**


	11. Chapter 11

**Wish For Something**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**A/N**: This chapter is out for everyone early because its short. Plus I had 85% of this chapter already written from notes/planning. :)

* * *

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

**Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

* * *

"We've got to do something!" Naruto roared, no longer able to supress the mixture of emotions swelling up inside of him from surging out. "Hinata's been kidnapped, and she's in danger!"

Sakura's mouth contorted into a twitchy frown. "You ought to be more indirect, Naruto. Tsunade's—!" Sakura paused and made a soft, irritated noise. Then her eyes softened and she nodded sadly.

"Yes, I know Naruto. But Tsunade-sama isn't slow and she's already sent out search squads to find Hinata. So there's nothing we can do... but wait."

"But this isn't—!"

"Rightly so," Tsunade agreed tersely with her student, interrupting Naruto. "and the Anbu squads are far more capable of going after Hinata than yourself. If you really want to go after her, you should be focusing on raising that status of genin all the way up to jonin, at least."

Naruto made a choked growl in the back of his throat, but after a few moments he sighed in defeat and turned away, unclenching his fists.

"_Baa-chan...! Why do you keep holding me back from going out to rescue her?!"_

This had been his seventh attempt to get permission to go after Hinata. But Tsunade persisted on being as hard as a solid nutshell.

After his several previous attempts Naruto had come to learn that two months ago Hinata had gone missing unexplainably. Some of their leads had brought recent news that Hinata may have been imprisoned in Orochimaru's base. However, they had no further updates until the latest Anbu squad that Tsunade had sent out returned.

"_She could be dead already... I don't trust Orochimaru. What does he want with Hinata?"_

"I just hope Hinata-chan is alright...hang in there Hinata..." Naruto muttered, turning away stormily.

"_I don't care about getting permission anymore...when have I ever cared? I'm going to Orochimaru's base one way or another... and very soon."_

As Naruto and Sakura left the office, Naruto stopped in the middle of the hallway in surprise at the sight of Danzo leaning nearby the office door mysteriously. It didn't look like he intended to move from his position either. Had he been spying on them? Why? Naruto glared at Danzo in suspicion.

Back in the office, Kakashi appeared at Tsunade's window. The Hokage massaged her temples as Kakashi slid inside the office.

"This better be good," She grumbled irritably. "After all, it's because of you that I have to go through all this trouble. Lying has never been in my nature."

"I still don't want you to send out any search squads to find Hinata." He stated plainly, straight to the point.

"But it's been month—"

"I know, I know." Kakashi insisted. "Don't worry, I have this in my hands."

"You know, Hatake, if you had said that in front of Naruto, he'd be having you running for your life."

"If you must know, Tsunade-sama, Hinata is safe."

The female Sanin's hand discretely clenched under her desk, ready to settle any disagreements if he refused, as she said sweetly,

"_Hmm_, so you do know? Mind _expanding_?"

Just for a moment, Kakashi felt intimidated by her threat. Then he remembered that there was no need. He had proof, after all.

"If I tell you, you must promise to keep this strictly confidential between us only."

Then, Kakashi brought out Hinata's reply letter. Tsunade took hold of it, her eyes widening as she finished reading.

"...Wishes?"

"Now you understand why no one else must know."

"But... Kakashi, did you made the right decision trusting that Sasuke would keep Hinata safe?"

There was an undefinable pause, then turning to exit through the window, Kakashi finally spoke.

"Yes,"

* * *

XXX

When Sasuke returned from his outing, it was still early morning.

Hinata decided that it was finally time to ask Sasuke. She found him sharpening his lethal-looking weapons inside the kitchen. He wore an open-neck white shirt with his usual attire.

"Where are we? Sasuke...?"

He stopped.

"In a safe cottage in the middle of nowhere." Sasuke replied.

Hinata tried to supress the urge to cringe. When Sasuke nonchalantly lifted up his katana and let the tip of it glimmer at the ceiling, she felt even more determined to push forth more matters that needed his acknowledgment.

Hinata tugged at her turtleneck t-shirt, and as she gathered her thoughts, it crossed her mind that she never used to do her weaponry polishing somewhere as obtuse as the kitchen. Hinata let the controversial thought pass.

"The Leaf village doesn't know I'm alive." Hinata said quietly. She had been missing for some months now.

_Scratch! Screeech! Scratch!_

The sounds of Sasuke's polishing came to a slow. He lifted up an eyebrow.

"Funny you should say that."

Hinata gasped. A letter had materialised in Sasuke's hand. It looked strikingly familiar. Was it the one with the single mysterious question? The same one?

"Sasuke, is this—?"

"Yes."

"But how...Kabuto...?"

"Do you think I would let him get away with keeping something that wasn't his? I got it back before he could show it to Orochimaru."

Hinata didn't know what to say. Sasuke was smirking at her so openly and amused that she found her cheeks flushing. Then she realised that she ought to say something.

"S-Sasuke...thank you." Hinata blushed further at her stammer. She noticed that it only ever came when she spent long periods of time around Sasuke...

Sasuke's smirk fell and the remnants of a serious expression overtook his features. He put down the letter and said, "Wait,"

Hinata let a quizzical expression surface.

"...I know that it was formerly in our bargain for you to stay here until I taught you how to supress your curse mark effectively," Sasuke said. "and I know we sort of _agreed_ that we didn't need to claim the wishes anymore," Sasuke uttered. "But..."

Hinata did not like the sound of Sasuke's 'but' already. She continued listening.

"...I want to make some changes."

Hinata stiffened a tiny bit.

"Umm... you do?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Yes."

_...What changes does he want to make...?_

Sasuke took a deep breath. He brought out a new kunai to sharpen, and hacked at it mercilessly for a considerable amount of time.

_It's my fault that Hinata has the curse mark right now. So I'm going to get it removed from her. It would be impossible but there's a way... _

"Let's take this opportunity to change each other – everyone thinks that you're already dead—so we can hold back you're return, it's convenient for us. You want this whole wish thing over, don't you?"

Hinata shifted uneasily. She exhaled. "But Sasuke, why are you changing your mind? I-I thought we could just leave this ordeal with the wishes... and I could return to the Leaf village once I had the curse mark under control?"

Sasuke's eyes darkened and he dropped the kunai.

_There's also another reason why we need to claim the wishes other than so that I can get a rid of Hinata's curse seal..._

"Do you think it's that easy? You can't naïvely walk away with something so supernatural and powerful."

"W-Why?" Hinata asked innocently, starting to feel her heart beat rise.

"You'll get killed," Sasuke said, raising his arm to show the Seal that the Shinigami had given them both. "You only need one person to notice what we have before word gets around. The Akatsuki could come after you, just like we've experienced with Orochimaru. You can't expect to hide this all your life."

Hinata felt a blob forming in the back of her throat. She didn't speak. Then finally, she nodded in understanding.

Sasuke lifted up the letter again.

"Kakashi. It's from Kakashi."

Hinata's eyes widened.

_I-It was from Kakashi all along?_

Sasuke watched her closely.

"What should I do?" Hinata gasped anxiously. Should she reply to Kakashi's letter? If she didn't reply to Kakashi's letter at all then everyone apart from Sasuke would not know that she was still alive. Could they risk relying any more information to Kakashi?

"Tell him you are alive. Say that your somewhere on the outskirts of a Hidden village, and that you're safe. Tell him we're taking advantage of this opportunity to do something concerning our wishes and the whole emotional district business. Ask him if there is any way that he can stop the Leaf from sending out any more search squads."

* * *

**A/N**: A lot is going on in this story, so don't try to mull over it all in one go. This story has a complex plot and it will all explain itself in time –_trust_ _me_. Thank you for every single lovely review! They're love-giving virtual cookies for me. 33 :D

AKNOWLEDGMENTS GO TOOOO!: **RikuDai**, **Rosebunse**, **suicune4ever**, **ultima-owner**, **akasukifangirl**, **alee26606**, **SonniDeVicious** and **YamiHinata**.

...Since I'm too lazy to PM my thanks individually. ^^ :D

THANK YOU!

Ja ne!

**Any more free cookies? *glares cat-like behind person's computer screen in wait***


	12. Chapter 12

**Wish For Something**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**A/N: *collapses to knees and pants heavily* 0.0 **

* * *

**CHAPTER TWELVE **

**Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

* * *

The past few days Hinata hadn't experienced any more outbursts from the curse mark, or even the slightest sensation of pain at her neck. It was almost a miracle. Maybe Orochimaru's curse seal had decided to take a few days off on absence leave. Finally, she could relax with what little time she had at peace left.

Hinata sighed a breath of relief. No more unpleasant surprise outbursts at less-than-cordial intervals.

The wildflowers Hinata currently held between her fingers were warm and tingly. She had moved the pot of exotic wildflowers from the front of the cottage's threshold to her bedroom window ledge where they brightened the mood in her room instantly.

She smiled softly over them, but gave a gruesome wince as her neck exploded with unpredicted pain. Hinata was so surprised when it happened that she squashed the flowers in her hands. They dropped to the ground in little segments as soon as she released her grip. A frown played on Hinata's lips as a trained hand went onto her neck.

_Are the outbursts retuning? _Hinata wondered gruesomely, grieving its disappearance.

Her curse mark had gone silent for a few days, not causing her any trouble, or showing any signs that it was about to be giving her any unpleasant surprises, and now it was back all too soon. Nevertheless, she wasn't unprepared.

The journey that Hinata then took up the stairs to the shower followed no contact with Sasuke, unfortunately. She walked along past his closed bedroom door, wondering if he was still asleep. It was no longer early morning.

When Hinata finally emerged fresh from her long shower, a startled gasp left her mouth—as unexpectedly—Sasuke stood in the middle of the corridor that she was about to pass to go to her own room.

In a reckless state of surprise, Hinata's hand left its previous hold on her towel. Before anything happened, Sasuke was behind her too fast to comprehend, his hand gently holding the white folds back together.

"Be careful," He muttered. Then, he left, and Hinata trembled in embarrassment and confusion.

Later on that day, Hinata noticed the signs that Sasuke was emanating towards her. He behaved in a mysterious manner whenever she and him were in the same room. Hinata had only knocked on his bedroom door once to say that lunch was ready when he given her a subdued grunt in reply. He acted like her presence was unwanted.

Hinata was at loss over Sasuke. Until that evening, Sasuke cursed out loud in pain and she caught a glimpse of the scarring skin on his arms.

A hand flew over Hinata's mouth in shock and she found herself unsure of what to do. She stared at Sasuke's back in terror as he leaned against the living room wall for support.

"Sasuke! Are you alright?" Hinata gasped.

"Yes." He replied, an annoyed expression playing on his sweat-stricken face towards his own dilemma. It was taking him a lot of effort to stay standing.

"D-Do you need me to help you?" Hinata asked timidly, already getting up and tentatively approaching him.

"No," Sasuke replied firmly. Before he could tell her to just leave him be, he clutched his arm in sudden agony and cried out in pain.

"Sasuke!"

Hinata was by his side as fast as her legs could take her. How long had he been hiding this from her? Six days now? She had suspected that Sasuke was injured, but had never imagined it to be to this scale.

"H-How did you hide this from me?" She stammered quietly, Sasuke's left arm now draped across her shoulders. He didn't protest.

"... Genjutsu."

"What?" Hinata's face contorted in confusion. "W-What f—"

"I put genjutsu over my injury so that you wouldn't see it. But it looks like I can't even keep that up anymore." Sasuke said dryly. Hinata realised that the reason he had behaved so distant towards her earlier that day was because he hadn't wanted her to learn of his devastating injury.

His pride had been in the way of letting her help him. Hinata frowned slightly at this, wondering if all Uchiha proved to be so difficult.

"And w-what good has that done for you now?" Hinata asked, her voice rising slightly, favouring the urge to shout by the second. Then she took a deep breath and calmed herself down. Instead of giving this stubborn Uchiha a verbal lesson teaching, she ought to be focusing her energy on healing him before he passed out on her. The darkening scars on both his lower arms were one thing. The _cause_ of it was another.

Hinata gently guided Sasuke upstairs, grimacing at his frequent curses and pained growls. Then they reached his room and carefully pushing the door aside so as to not knock him, Hinata entered the room with Sasuke in tow.

He eased his hold on her frame from there, and balanced himself long enough for the short distance that it took him to reach his bed and plop down on it weakly.

Meanwhile, Hinata was preparing herself mentally for the full-fledged check-up that she was about to perform on Sasuke to look for the source of his injury, then a _possible_ operation afterwards. Not to mention that she would have to do this all while supressing the curse seal, and its sudden outburst earlier was not a good sign.

_...You can do this, Hinata. You're stronger..._

Deeps breaths. Hinata's eyes were already tightly shut when her hands started to glow a soft green. Soon enough the healing chakra was so bright that it made her eyes water even though shut. She had never used her healing chakra to such intensity before. Ever. But it seemed necessary for this casualty.

"S-Sasuke, if you can, please lye down and relax." Hinata said softly, activating Byakugan. "I am going to enter my chakra into your system in a minute."

Sasuke complied without protest.

With Byakugan activated, Hinata recognised the signs of jutsu overuse immediately. She turned to Sasuke, questioningly. His gaze met hers reluctantly.

"I over did my Chidori limit. When I was fighting Orochimaru."

"How... how many did you use?" Hinata asked tentatively.

She thought Sasuke wasn't going to answer her, but then he did, albeit with a scowl.

"Nine."

Hinata didn't want to think of what his limit was _supposed_ to be.

She summoned her chakra steadily over Sasuke's left arm.

"You're badly hurt," Hinata told him. She let her chakra enter Sasuke's arm. "Y-You have several burst chakra vessels in your lower arms. If you had done one more Chidori..."

Sasuke had his eyes on her face the whole time. He almost didn't hear her words.

"Hn."

Hinata removed her hands from Sasuke's arm and looked down at him with concerned translucent eyes.

"I-It still had a toll on you two weeks afterwards? Y-You did a good job of covering it up from me. I only barely missed it."

"... I don't want your pity."

Hinata stiffened. Sasuke looked away.

Then she resumed healing his arm, but there was a thick silence over them. Soon Sasuke lost consciousness. Hinata gave a grim smile as the darkened rosy scars on Sasuke's left arm faded. She proceeded to his right arm.

_If you had done one more Chidori... the damage would've been too significant to repair and you would not be able to use ninjutsu for years... maybe not even ever again._

Somewhere amongst the long healing of Sasuke's right arm, Hinata noticed that she was having some difficulty controlling her chakra. It playfully strayed away from healing Sasuke's arm, to grazing his neck, or torso. Hinata calmly tightened up the freedom she was giving her chakra so that it didn't breach away from where she was directing it.

Hinata knew that it was the curse seal giving her this trouble.

_I can already feel it getting agitated. That means if I try to defy for any longer, I'll be in a bad situation._

Hinata withdrew her hands from Sasuke's arm and gazed at her work. She had corrected the damaged pathways of Sasuke's chakra system in both arms, but unfortunately she hadn't had enough time to fade the angry scarring on his right arm just as she had done with his left arm.

XXX

The next day Hinata woke up early to check on Sasuke. He had remained unconscious while she had added the finishing touches to the operation last night by bandaging up both his arms. She had been tempted to put them both in slings as well, but had immediately dismissed the idea at the thought of Sasuke's facial expression if he had woken up and seen what she had done to him. Hinata supressed a grim smile.

Sasuke would _never_ allow anyone—not even her—to reduce him to such a level.

Hinata could imagine that given all his pride and taking into account everything that he had been through, Sasuke despised the idea of being helpless and incapable.

"What makes you think I need these?" Came a haughty voice. Hinata turned around and came face to face with Sasuke, who had appeared out of nowhere behind her. She had just been on her way to his room to check on him.

Hinata looked down at the bandages he was presenting to her which were still wrapped around both his arms. Hinata was surprised that he hadn't ripped them off, though the simple action of putting them on him alone did seem to have offended him. Hinata got shivery at the thought of his reaction to an additional two slings.

Hinata looked up at Sasuke, meeting his obsidian eyes, and unexpectedly she found herself trapped like a fly caught in a spider's web in his gaze. Hinata next acknowledged his jet hair which seemed spikey in all the right places. He was handsomely attractive, that was a fact universally known, but why was it getting at _her_ so much lately?

"Well?" Sasuke prompted, his lips now rising at Hinata's obvious dilemma. She looked away blushing madly.

"Ano... I healed your arms but there is only so much that my chakra can do. So now your arm needs to do the rest of the healing naturally." Hinata meekly explained.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Then he turned away.

"Alright."

Then he left.

Hinata let out a long breath, deciding to go downstairs to make them both breakfast. They would need a trip to the closest grocery store soon so Hinata had to be careful. The most adequate meal for breakfast that she could picture in her mind had to be no one's favourite.

XXX

Staring out the window, Sasuke wholesomely viewed the Sound village. He more than loathed his injury but it couldn't be helped. Sasuke knew that it was the bane of his destruction because not only did he _hate_ feeling useless, he also needed to do something important very soon that acquired the use of both his arms and a lot more Chidori.

Sasuke took a moment to think about Hinata inside the dark kitchen. He had seen her progress. She had surprised him in many ways with her displays of fearlessness, determination and leadership. Then he himself had to admit that _she_ had done something to change him. Maybe it was spending so much time in her humbling presence. It had wiped off on Sasuke a little bit.

Sasuke scowled. His arm was feeling sore. He got up and left.

Hinata approached Sasuke in the hallway as she made her way to the living room. She noted that he was grimacing, so his arms had to be giving him trouble.

For some reason, seeing him in pain made Hinata's heart drop.

"Sasuke, let me—"

"No." He said quickly. He had a determined look in his eyes.

Hinata stared at Sasuke in puzzlement.

"B-But you're in pain and I can—?"

"Persisting," Sasuke stated darkly, "Won't get you anywhere. I've spent the past ten years of my life not accepting help from anyone."

Hinata stilled. Something in Sasuke's words awakened a memory. Sai...

"_... Just remember that it is not easy to change someone's emotional attitude. Many have tried to do it in the past—vigorously striving for years—but failed. If it has taken someone so many years to be in the emotional state that they are currently in, then it should only logically take equally as long to change them to an alternate emotional state."_

If Sai was right, did this mean that Hinata would just fail miserably like all the others in her quest to change Sasuke?

Before she could let the distressing thought bother her any longer, Sasuke continued.

"... which is why _I_ have to be the one asking _you_ to heal my arms for me." Sasuke said quietly.

Hinata's eyes widened in surprise.

He lifted up his arms for her.

"If you will," Sasuke then amended. "...Please."

Hinata nodded vehemently, still stunned at the sudden turnaround, and placed her hands over his arm where it glowed with healing chakra. A few minutes passed in intense silence. She took the opportunity to finish fading the rest of his scarring.

Hinata noted that Sasuke was looking at her so fixatedly her soul almost flipped.

As Hinata let her chakra subdue in finishing, she noticed that they were so close, then...

Unexpectedly, Sasuke's lips were on hers. He captured her waist with his arms and pulled her closer to him.

Hinata's eyes widened as Sasuke's passionate kiss continued and eventually she found herself closing her lavender eyes and responding. She had never been kissed before in her life and didn't doubt that her responses were short-lived.

But Sasuke didn't seem to notice. He had a hand traveling up her back and tangling up into her hair seductively. Hinata supressed a shiver.

They pulled apart short of breath, and Hinata would've missed the concealed appreciation in Sasuke's eyes had she not looked in time.

Hinata nearly died. Sasuke... he just kissed her, and now he _wanted_ her healing him—?

Hinata felt the heat rising to her cheeks and the blood rushing to her head, and then before she knew it she was falling back and—

She fainted.

XXX

Hinata woke up in her room, noting that it had to be night-time, judging by the pitch darkness.

Remembering the kiss she had shared with Sasuke a few hours ago, Hinata placed a hand to her lips and blushed.

Her first kiss had been stolen by Sasuke. Hinata had always imagined Naruto being her first kiss... but the idea of Sasuke being her first kiss instead was—worryingly—welcomed.

Then she turned over in her bed, distantly realising that Sasuke must have moved her there after she had fainted.

Hinata felt a smile tugging at her lips and let it show. Remembering that Sasuke's and Naruto's first kisses had been with _each other_ she gave a light wince and decided to put the thought at rest. Sasuke definitely wouldn't appreciate it.

Hinata's hand then went to her curse seal. What would her friends and family's reactions be when she returned? Sympathetic and understanding? Disgusted and hateful?

Hinata had conflicting feelings about returning to Konoha when the whole business with the wishes was finally over. She had gotten so used to being with Sasuke that—

Hinata couldn't force herself to admit it. Suddenly, an agonised cry punctuated her thoughts.

She turned her head in the darkness towards the wall that separated their rooms.

Another cry.

Hinata got up and made her way out of her room tenderly. Soon she was by Sasuke's door, and just as she raised her fist to knock on, she decided against it. What if he was in urgent trouble?

"No... _don't_ do it, Itachi!" Upon entering, Hinata quickly saw that Sasuke was having a nightmare and delicately made her way to the side of his bed. She kneeled down beside him and wiped away the beads of sweat accumulating on his forehead with a cloth.

Then Hinata recalled what limited medial knowledge she had left. She recalled what the medic had shown her on her last day at Konoha. Hinata placed her hands onto Sasuke's forehead and let her chakra envelope his brain. She slowed down the process of his nerves and gradually allowed her chakra to travel through his blood so as to slow it down to a stable speed. This would help him to sleep better now. He'd go into a deep sleep, too deep for his nightmares to follow him.

"...Muishiki. " Hinata noted silently, finally putting away her hands, and breathing out lightly.

XXX

The next morning, as Hinata flipped the scrambled eggs they would be eating for breakfast in the frying pan, Sasuke walked inside the kitchen.

He gave her a welcoming 'Hn' that sounded quite distracted, and sat down quietly. Sasuke was so silent that Hinata thought there was something wrong with him, so turning around, she sneaked a peak.

He appeared to be thinking deeply.

Hinata looked away but stiffened slightly when she heard his deep intake of breath. "Hinata."

She tensed for some reason. Maybe it was the change of tone in his voice.

"Yes?"

"... we have to return to Orochimaru's base. There's something I need to do."

* * *

**A/N**: The kiss wasn't meant to happen but it... happened.. The story kind of decided to disobey me and I thought 'why not?'... so yeah.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed this update! ;-)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS GO TOOO~: **sirenmergirl**, **Saki-Hime**, **redressed**, **SonniDeVicious**, **AnimeRocks793**, **ultima-owner**, **alee26606**, **Rosebunse** and **Guest**!

All my sincere thanks goes out to your kind reviews.

Ja nee!~

***Puts on fake fangs*... I am the almighty vampire Yuuki... quench my cravings... or else! ^^ :D**


	13. Chapter 13

**Wish For Something**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto or any of these characters. If I owned Naruto, Hinata would be in more episodes. ^^ :D

* * *

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

**Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10**

* * *

Naruto sniffed the air. It had the distinct odour of corruption and death.

_"Yeah, I'm definitely in the Sound village."_

Cerulean blue eyes narrowed as the blonde shinobi straightened.

_"Now it's time to find Orochimaru's base."_

* * *

XXX

Hinata followed behind Sasuke quietly as they re-entered the last place she would return to on earth.

_There's still something I want to do..._

She remembered Sasuke saying.

_I could've just left you behind. But I need your help._

Hinata trusted Sasuke enough to not question his motives. Though the question kept tugging at her. What did he want in Orochimaru's base anymore?

Finally, Hinata couldn't resist.

"What do you want here?" She asked slowly.

Sasuke turned and looked at Hinata knowingly, as if he had sensed her apprehension the whole time. "You do want to know?"

Hinata nodded.

"I'm freeing Orochimaru's test subjects for him; since I've derived him of that honour."

Hinata nodded solemnly at what Sasuke's words implicated.

"and there's something else..."

Then Hinata noticed the masked expression on Sasuke's face. She looked away.

The sky was bleak. It stood between neither threatening to rain, nor wanting to let in any sunlight.

As Hinata stared at Sasuke's back, her eyes travelled down to his arms, and all the bandages that were wrapped around them. Hinata had changed the bandages for him again before they had set off. Sasuke's arms hadn't completely healed_. _

Only three days ago had she performed the operation on him.

Hinata had no idea whether Sasuke could perform ninjutsu or not yet.

They passed through a dozen silent courtyards. Whenever the wind ripped past, it sounded like the raspy murmurs of the dead to her ears.

Hinata let out a breath of relief when Sasuke finally led her inside; he hadn't said much to her since she'd asked him what they were there for.

As if reading her mind, Sasuke stopped for a moment to look at Hinata meaningfully.

"We're nearly there,"

Hinata was slowly coming to realise how naive she had been to the size of Orochimaru's base. She had never known that Orochimaru's base harboured this many complex extensions. In reality, it was almost like its own little Hidden village. Though so unlike a village. It was a mass graveyard: for the living and the dead.

Hinata thought about how many lives had been lost there to the sick mind of one person. How had she managed to survive one day in Orochimaru's base? Hinata's breath hitched in her throat. It was like feeling the opposite of homesickness.

As if somehow reading her mind, Sasuke spoke.

"You had hope. You trusted in your village. You were strong." He said. Simply. Then he turned away.

They passed through even more uninviting passageways. Hinata began to stumble over the jarred shafts of debris scattered like black ice on the ground as they advanced further through the darkness of the corridors.

Then suddenly Hinata felt a familiar arm curve around her back, guiding her into a smooth speed-walk at his side. Hinata shivered for a moment at their intimacy, but Sasuke didn't appear to care. She looked at him in silent thanks.

"We're here," He said.

Hinata came to a halt and looked up.

This passageway had poor lighting much like many of the others, except there was less animosity to the air. It was like there was a break between the endless fear churning atmosphere—where the air was light, unburdened with the weight of so many violations.

"...before I set the test subjects free, there's something I want to take. I brought you with me for this," Sasuke said, looking at her intently.

"...In one of these rooms, there is special information that Orochimaru always keeps hidden. His research."

Hinata let Sasuke's words sink in.

"Why... what about his research?"

Sasuke stood against the stone wall fixating her with a determined gaze. He had Sharingan activated.

Hinata stood frozen in surprise. She had never seen Sasuke's bloodline limit since three years ago during the Chunin exams. She almost forgot he had one...

"...Orochimaru strongly detested Shinigami the moment when I arrived here. It was because of the Fourth Hokage's Death Reaper Sealing jutsu, which summoned an actual Shinigami to cut off the soul of his arms at the Chunin exams." Sasuke explained. The dimly lit torches gave an eerie shadow over his face.

"...I _knew_ he wanted to use my body as his next vessel so that he could regain the use of his arms, so it didn't make sense to me why he got so worked up over one Shinigami. I figured he wanted revenge." Sasuke said. "He didn't like the idea of someone superior punishing him."

Hinata nodded.

"When Orochimaru brought me to Konoha that night I met you and Ryo, it was obviously because he had somehow found out about a Shinigami—Ryo—distributing wishes, and he wanted to meet him."

Hinata waited for Sasuke to continue.

"That's why the best chance we have of getting further information about the wishes is here. Orochimaru must've done some type of research on Shinigami."

"I understand," Hinata said, then with a jerk of her hands, "Byakugan!"

Sasuke made sense. He had lived there for three years. He had grasped some of the concepts behind Orochimaru's conversations—including his strong hatred for Shinigami. They needed this limited information. Whatever they could get.

Hinata entered the first room full of research. The second. The fifth. There was no end. So far she hadn't picked up any indication of a supernatural, arm-taking being. Nothing about Shinigami.

Sasuke was standing in the room opposite. He was distracted with their task.

Hinata scoured deeper along the corridor. She soon lost track of the rooms she was entering and leaving.

Research books. Notes. Diagrams. Then she saw it. Without realising, Hinata had somehow found her way back to her former room. It looked the same as she had left it.

But what had caught her attention, was the scattered pieces of parchment discarded on the ground.

It wracked a memory.

_Flashback_

_Collecting a book from the inventory that she had discovered behind a trapdoor amidst her bathroom one day by accident, Hinata pulled out a disintegrated heap of paper, which must've once been a book. _

_She hadn't come across this one before, and unconsciously began skimming over it._

_Date: 4__th__ December Time: 03:56 am Objective: Immortality Location: Ryu__chi Cave_

_Research material source:- Daisuke Higashi's mind capacity. _

_"Due to the fragility of my current host body, I am unable to harness my senjutsu chakra to its full potential and must develop an alternative method that does not strain the limits of Daisuke Higashi's mentality. To find a host body that could bear such a devastating ability that would not be unsustainable during battle would mean more years of research. To compensate for this flaw I have developed other novel uses of the senjutsu chakra: cursed seals. Perhaps through Curse seals I may be able to achieve something higher. Daisuke Higashi has proven to be a useful puppet at my disposal on the nature of senjutsu chakra, but the host body of someone possessing a highly developed Sharingan could get better results._

_Condition/status: needs further work_

_Research two:_

_"The Living Corpse reanimation which allows me to transfer my soul into another body and extend my life has many flaws that are stopping me from success. To use this technique, I must leave my former body ..."_

_The inventory must've been a storeroom long forgotten by Kabuto and Orochimaru, for unneeded research books. Maybe they had planned of burning the now withering books but had forgotten to as other priorities came in the way._

_Dropping the papers to the ground in an action of shock and wishing she had never read them, Hinata realised that she may have unlocked one of the reasons why Orochimaru wanted Sasuke as his vessel so much._

_End of flashback_

Although it was completely irrelevant to what they were searching for, Hinata still picked it up as she turned to leave. Maybe it would be of some interest to Sasuke?

The rough air ripped past Hinata's back, leaving goose bumps on her arms. Hinata pulled her lavender jacket tighter around herself to fend off the cold.

She could see Sasuke not too far away with her Byakugan. If she hurried it would only take a few minutes to reach him.

Unfortunately, Hinata didn't even make the first step out of the room. She felt a hand weakly grab her arm, then—

A body collapsed to the ground. Hinata eyes travelled down and widened in alarm as she recognised whose limp form it was. The person she had healed with Kabuto. The one who had the special kekkei genkai. But his hearts... they were gone.

"He... did this to me." Rukon rasped. Then there came the sound of muffled coughing. "Kabuto,"

At that moment more harsh wind ripped past Hinata's back. Looking up from Rukon, she froze. More test subjects—possibly fifteen—flashed past the door, disappearing in a flicker of speed.

What was going on? Why were they there?

Hinata's blood chilled as an unmistakable figure broke out from the flickering shadows of the stampeding test subjects, and advanced on her.

"Hinata."

She steeled herself. Could this be who she thought it was? Kabuto?

"K-Kabuto?"

Rukon coughed. She switched her attention onto him for a moment. "I-It's alright, I'm going to heal you."

Then she turned back.

Sasuke stood in front of her, with an accusatory brow raised.

"You've _actually_ just mistaken me for Kabuto?" Sasuke asked.

Hinata didn't give him an answer. She was more worried about the rogue test subjects and Rukon than the fact that she had indeed mistaken him for Orochimaru's right hand man.

She was glad it was Sasuke.

Hinata kneeled down beside Rukon. She pressed her fingers against his neck to check for a pulse, slowly noting with relief that it was there.

Hinata performed a checkup, trying to ignore the eerie absence of any of Rukon's hearts.

Hinata forced her chakra deeper, wanting to look for a way that she could heal him...

"Hinata." Sasuke said.

But his voice was faint. Far away. She ignored him.

"Hinata." This time Hinata almost didn't hear Sasuke.

"_Hinata_."

It was like she had broken through the surface of a pool; Hinata's mind flooded back to reality in one big rush. She noticed her chakra was massively depleted. Where had it gone?

Then something daunting smacked Hinata in the face. She couldn't heal him. There was nothing she could do to help Rukon in his pain. She had just overused a massive amount of her chakra trying to reach a height that she could never achieve. Hinata stood in dazed silence before meeting Sasuke's angled gaze.

She spoke.

"Sorry..." _I-I got too carried away._

Sasuke shook his head. Then gesturing to the door, he spoke in a low undertone "I set them free."

That explained why she had seen the stampede of test subjects. And why Rukon was there.

"...You better not stop to do that with every victim." He finished darkly, though Hinata didn't take this to offence, because she read between the lines. The mock carelessness in his gaze was fake. He cared about her well-being: _Nearly overusing your chakra like that is definitely not a clever thing to do with a Curse Seal. Not only would it annoy me if you did that again, it would also get me worked up over your health. Tch._

Hinata turned away from Sasuke in shame and sadness over Rukon, ignoring the distant twinge of her neck.

"Sasuke-kun, I think that what you are doing for the test subjects is very honourable," Hinata said, her heart beating quickly. She didn't know why the suffix had decided to join on his name when she said it.

"but we can't leave Rukon here."

Hinata had a strong passion to make sure that Rukon went back to his village. Kabuto had kidnapped him from his village, like her, to bring him there. Even though Sasuke had set Rukon free, he couldn't make his way back home like the other test subjects. He was fragile. Hinata wouldn't be able to live with herself if she left him there to die because he was too crippled to save himself.

Hinata's heart went out to Rukon. Determination swelled in her stomach. She wouldn't take no for an answer.

Noticing Hinata's resolve, Sasuke's charcoal eyes hardened.

"If there's nothing you can do for him now then what makes you think that returning him to his village will do any good?"

At that moment, Rukon stirred on the ground. "Grandmother..." He rasped. "Grandmother... I can't remember you..."

That was enough Hinata needed.

She bent low and slung her arm round Rukon's back, then she wrapped his arm over her shoulder.

"...Sasuke, I'll do this on my own."

Hinata's pale eyes held such controlled self-assuredness... and confidence. Sasuke almost thought he was looking into the lavender eyes of an entirely different shinobi.

He turned away and scowled. _Why must she turn into a saint now? _He didn't respond.

Hinata remembered the piece of Orochimaru's research that she had wanted to give Sasuke. She reached into her pocket, pulled it out, and passed it to him, her eyes downcast.

"T-Thank you for all that you have done for me." Guilt. Regret.

Was this the right thing to do? Was Sasuke just being stubborn like the Uchiha he was? Or was it Hinata's resolve blown completely out of proportion?

"I-I really want to do this," Hinata said, looking up at Sasuke with hope.

But her heart stopped completely when she recognised the betrayed look in his eyes. It was as if she had become his enemy.

"Do what you want."

The cold, stone walls of Orochimaru's base felt like they were closing in on Hinata. As she ushered Rukon's semi-conscious body beside her, she tried to ignore the hurt expression she'd seen on Sasuke's face.

She _had_ betrayed him.

Rukon stirred. His messy crimson head lifted. He opened two green eyes weakly.

_I followed my conscious... and it told me Rukon._

Hinata closed her eyes with more resolve. She wouldn't be swayed.

_But... that was my first argument with Sasuke..._

Hinata cleared her head. If returning Rukon to his village meant going against Sasuke's will, then so be it.

With that, she helped him keep his balance as they sprinted. They needed to get out of there.

XXX

Sasuke watched Hinata leave, not allowing any remnants of emotion to surface in his cold eyes when she turned back at him for one last glance. Then she was gone.

He still had more research to look for. Hinata's bold, _unnerving_ action was simply a distraction. Why should he care anyway? She was free to do whatever she wanted.

But Sasuke had no more time to mull over Hinata.

Someone was there.

A cold, unseen hand lay down on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke cocked his head around, Sharingan activated, piercing the person in question.

"Suigetsu."

.

.

.

.

.

-XXX-

"... It's the wrong one." Naruto said, anger gripping his insides. "I'm at the wrong base. Not a soul in sight. That Orochimaru... he must've given his victims a mass-burial long ago."

* * *

**A/N**: Soooo that's the end of chapter 13! Do. Not. Worry. There will be more SasuHina, to all those fans out there! Now let's get down to the gritty business! BELOW IS A QUIZ!

**Question: What are you waiting for to be revealed the most?**

You don't have to do it, I'm only curious. ^^ :D

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS GO TO:** Eva1700**, **Sadie321**, **suicune4ever**, **ultima-owner**, **AnimeRocks793**, **Rosebunse** and **alee26606**!

Thank you!

Ja ne!

**Hinata: R&R? **


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